More foreign leaders congratulate Xi on election as Chinese president

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- More foreign leaders sent congratulatory messages Tuesday to Xi Jinping on his election as the new Chinese president.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, leaders who offered congratulations to Xi on Tuesday included Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Ethiopian President Girma Wolde Giorgis, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikhd Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Dutch Queen Beatrix, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, New Zealand Governor-General Jerry Mateparae, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley, President of the Democratic Party of Japan Banri Kaieda, and Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii.

In addition, Ethiopian President Giorgis extended congratulations to Xi on his election as chairman of China's Central Military Commission.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was elected state president and chairman of China's Central Military Commission Thursday at the plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress.

Also on Tuesday, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE prime minister and vice president and the Constitutional Monarch of Dubai; New Zealand Prime Minister John Key; Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi; and President of the Democratic Party of Japan Banri Kaieda congratulated Li Yuanchao on his election as Chinese vice president.

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