Ahead of the upcoming Lantern Festival, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to the major State media headquarters on Friday morning and personally sent an audio greeting to all Chinese netizens.

Xi arrived at the headquarters of People's Daily newspaper at around 8:40 AM. He sent the greeting on three social networking platforms, namely, WeChat, Weibo and the newspaper's app.

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In the short audio tape recorded at the headquarters, President Xi said: "Hello, everyone. With the Lantern Festival around the corner, I wish you all happy, healthy and successful new year." The message has been warmly received by netizens.

About two hours after the greeting was released, it had been shared almost 10,000 times and liked by over 17,000 people on People Daily's Weibo account. 

In response, netizens thanked the leader and have also extended to him their early Lantern Festival greetings. The president also had a live video chat with locals from Chixi village in Ningde city, Fujian province and wished them a better life. Chixi is one of the country's poorest village. During Xi's reign as party secretary of Ningde, he paid particular attention to fighting poverty in the village.

Xi also paid a visit to the Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television headquarters.

Throughout China, everyone is gearing up for the Lantern Festival. The Gelao people in Guizhou province have a long celebration for the Lantern Festival that usually lasts from the 1st to the 15th of the first lunar month. Local folk artists usually stop at doorsteps with various lanterns and songs, and in response, householders give money or liquor as a sign of good luck for the coming year. The Maio ethnic people also from Guizho also wear traditional costumes and accessories and gather in a square to dance, play musical instruments, sing and just be merry. 

TagsPresident Xi Jinping, Lantern Festival, china, China stock market, weibo