Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday extended Spring Festival greetings to old comrades and retired cadres of the army at a party, wishing them all good health and a happy Spring Festival.

There were song and dance performances at the party, held by the Central Military Commission (CMC) for old comrades and retired cadres of the army in Beijing.

Hu, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the CMC, walked onto the stage at the end of the performances. He shook hands with the performing staff, congratulating them on the success of the performances, and took a group photo with them.

He wished all old comrades of the army good health and a happy Spring Festival.

The audiences said in the new year, they would rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee with comrade Hu Jintao as general secretary and make due contributions to pushing forward modernization of the army and building a socialist harmonious society.

Vice-Chairmen of the CMC Guo Boxiong, Cao Gangchuan and Xu Caihou, old comrades Zhang Wannian and Chi Haotian and members of the CMC also attended the party.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2006)