Xi extends Int'l Children's Day greetings in letter to pupils

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‍Chinese President Xi Jinping has wished children nationwide a happy International Children's Day, which falls on June 1.

Xi extended the greetings in a letter dated May 31 to primary school students in south China's Macao Special Administrative Region in response to a letter they sent earlier.

"At a young age, you already know that the motherland is Macao's strong backer," Xi said. "I am so glad about it."

Xi expressed his hope that the students can pass on the fine tradition of loving the motherland and loving Macao and make contributions to Macao's development and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation when they grow up.

Students from the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School in Macao write a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping. /CGTN Photo

The students recalled that soldiers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in Macao had helped with disaster relief in Macao following Typhoon Hato's rampage in August 2017.

"The motherland is like our mother," the students wrote. "She will take care of us with warmth and love when we are in difficulties. The motherland is our strong backer."

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland. The students said they wish Xi would visit Macao again as he did five years ago.

A letter by students from the Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School in Macao to Chinese President Xi Jinping. /CGTN Photo

Receiving Xi's letter on Friday, the students clapped. "I am so excited to receive his reply," said fifth-grader Dang Wing Zi, one of the students who wrote the initial letter. "I will study hard to be able to better serve the country."

Chan Lai Wing, a teacher at the school, said she believes the conviction of serving the country has taken root among children and will later blossom and bear fruit.

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‍Established in 1932, Hou Kong Middle School has the largest number of primary and secondary students among all schools in Macao.

Xi's interactions with children

Xi is perhaps one of the world's leaders who interact most with children: He visits schools, drops in on their homes, watches them play sports and practice calligraphy, joins them in activities such as planting trees and frequently writes to children.

China has a large child population, with more than 248 million people aged 15 or below on the Chinese mainland alone.

Xi often shows his concern for their growth and has expressed his hope for them to carry on endeavors to realize the nation's dreams.

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On June 1, 2015, when speaking to members of the Chinese Young Pioneers in Beijing, Xi called on all Chinese children to learn to be good persons from an early age.

"To be a good person means one has to have integrity, knowledge and responsibility," Xi said. "First and foremost one must have integrity."

In 2016, Xi wrote a reply to 12 primary school students in Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. They were the grandchildren of people who cultivated the uninhabited Dachen Islands in the 1950s.

Xi expressed his hope that the students would learn from their grandparents and prepare themselves to contribute to the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

When visiting a primary school in Beijing's Haidian district in 2014, Xi spoke of the need to guide children to set high goals and create conditions for them to grow up better.

In May 2013, while inspecting a school devastated by an earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Xi told students to turn their trauma into a source of strength, urging them to be strong, brave and united.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency