President Xi delivers his 2018 New Year Address

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday delivered a New Year Address in Beijing.

In the speech, President Xi extended his New Year greetings to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, to compatriots in the Hong Kong SAR, the Macao SAR and Taiwan, to overseas Chinese, as well as to people from all countries and regions around the world.

Following are some highlights:

President Xi hailed China’s achievements in 2017 in his New Year Address, saying that China has embarked on a journey to fully build a modern socialist country.

As various initiatives to improve people's livelihoods have been accelerated and the environment has steadily improved, Chinese people have enjoyed a stronger sense of gain, of happiness and of security, Xi said, adding that China has marched one significant step closer to completing the process of building a moderately well-off society in all aspects.

He highlighted that there has been a steady flow of technological innovation and major engineering feats in 2017, applauding the creative powers of the Chinese people.

Xi said that the year of 2017 marked the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, and the 80th anniversary of the beginning of nationwide war against Japanese aggression. China also held a state memorial ceremony for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Xi said.

China hosted a series of international summits and activities in 2017, including the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, the ninth BRICS summit in Xiamen and the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting in Beijing, Xi reviewed.

He said he also attended some major multilateral meetings overseas and had many in-depth exchanges of views with relevant parties, adding that they all supported the joint promotion of building a community of shared future for mankind to benefit people all over the world.

Xi vowed that China would resolutely carry out reform in 2018.

"We will take the opportunity of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up in 2018 to further carry out reform, as reform and opening-up is the path we must take to make progress in contemporary China and to realize the Chinese dream," Xi said.