BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders have extended festive greetings over the phone or via other means to veteran comrades ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and other Party and state leaders wished the veteran comrades a happy Spring Festival, good health and long lives.

This year's Spring Festival falls on Jan. 22.

The veteran comrades spoke highly of the historic achievements and changes in the cause of the Party and the state over the past five years and the first decade of the new era, which were scored under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core.

They expressed wholehearted support for Xi's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole.

They expressed the hope that the entire Party, the military, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups would rally even closer around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and study, publicize, and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress.

They also called for working hard with one mind and in firm confidence and striving in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts.