Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Wednesday extended festive greetings to people from non-CPC political parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), personages without party affiliation and other members of the united front ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent the greetings when he took part in an annual gathering with non-CPC members at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The reception was also attended by Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Ding Xuexiang, vice premier of the State Council. They are all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Xi said 2023 was an extraordinary year. He noted that throughout the year, the CPC Central Committee led the whole Party and the Chinese people to fully implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and act on the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability.

We stood up to external pressure and overcame domestic difficulties, made all-out efforts to boost economic recovery and development and achieved the primary projected economic and social development targets, said Xi.

We got off to a good start, and there are many highlights in our endeavor, Xi said, noting that new breakthroughs were made in the field of sci-tech innovation.

In the meantime, we effectively took countermeasures against a series of natural disasters, Xi added.

These achievements resulted from not only the strong leadership of the CPC but also the tenacious endeavor and joint efforts of people from all sectors of society, including non-CPC political parties, the ACFIC, and personages without party affiliation, he said.

Xi noted that non-CPC political parties and personages without party affiliation have continued to strengthen ideological and political consensus for multiparty cooperation over the past year.

He said that they have voiced their views and given advice on key and thorny problems in the process of promoting Chinese modernization and made new progress in serving economic and social development.

Xi then expressed gratitude on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and is a critical year for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Xi said, calling for efforts to effectively improve the quality of economy and promote its growth within a reasonable range to advance Chinese modernization.

He called on non-CPC political parties, the ACFIC and personages without party affiliation to make extra efforts in research, consultation and deliberation, democratic supervision and self-construction to contribute wisdom and strength to promoting Chinese modernization.

Xi expressed the hope that non-CPC political parties, the ACFIC and personages without party affiliation can strengthen institutional confidence and uphold, develop and improve China's new type of political party system.

He expressed hope that they can build a broad consensus to help promote Chinese modernization and strengthen political guidance to continuously improve the level of their own construction.

(With input from Xinhua)