Foreign leaders congratulate Li Keqiang on endorsement as Chinese premier

BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Foreign leaders sent congratulatory messages Friday to Li Keqiang on his endorsement as the new Chinese premier.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the leaders who have offered congratulations included Cuba's President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Raul Castro; Myanmar President U Thein Sein; Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah; European Council President Herman van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso; Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung; Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong; Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne; and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

The leaders who have sent congratulatory messages also included Cote d'Ivoire Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan; Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda; Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor; Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir; Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker; Tonga Prime Minister Siale'ataonga Tu'ivakano; and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Li was endorsed as Chinese premier earlier in the day at the ongoing 12th NPC session.

Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies voted to approve the nomination of Li, by newly-elected President Xi Jinping, as the candidate for premier at the legislative session.