Chinese leaders attend Lantern Festival celebrations

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hu Jintao (C) talks with delegates from the intelligentsia during a get-together marking the traditional Lantern Festival at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 28, 2010. The CPC Central Committee hosted a get-together here on Sunday to mark the Lantern Festival. (Xinhua/Fan Rujun)
President Hu Jintao and other top Chinese leaders joined an evening party Sunday with representatives of intellectuals in Beijing to celebrate the annual Lantern Festival.

Hu and eight other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, including top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao, attended the event featuring song-and-dance shows and rice dumplings, a traditional food for the festival.


China's leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang along with some famous intellectuals sing a song during the Lantern Festival evening held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Feb. 28, 2010. (Xinhua/Fan Rujun)
The past year was significant for China as it effectively fought the global financial crisis and led the economic recovery, Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said in a speech at the gathering.

Li said Chinese intellectuals had played an important role in the country's modernization drive. He encouraged them to make concerted efforts in the new year to contribute to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

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