Chinese leaders attended a grand gathering in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday morning to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC, chaired the gathering of 4,000 personages from various circles.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a speech.

Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan, who are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the gathering.

Other participants include leaders of various departments of the central authorities, leading officials of the capital city, representatives of retired senior cadres, leaders of non-Communist parties and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, personages without political affiliations, representatives of ethnic minorities, domestic and foreign experts and scholars as well as representatives of various communities of the capital city.

Source: Xinhua