Students from a Macao primary school hailed President Xi Jinping's reply letter delivered to them before International Children's Day, and they pledged to live up to Xi's expectations by passing on the traditions of loving Macao and the country.
In the library of the Hou Kong Premier School Affiliated to Hou Kong Middle School in Macao, students clapped after hearing Xi's letter.
Hou Kong Middle School, established in 1932, was the first to raise a national flag in Macao on Oct 1, 1949.
"I am so excited to receive a reply," said fifth-grader Dang Wingzi, one of the students who wrote the initial letter to Xi. "I will study hard to be able to better serve the country."
Chan Lai-wing, a teacher at the school, said she believes the conviction of serving the country had taken root among children and would later blossom and bear fruit.
In a reply letter dated Friday to the school's students, Xi expressed his hope that the students could pass on the fine tradition of loving the motherland and loving Macao, and make contributions to Macao's development and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation when they grow up.
In a statement, Chief Executive of Macao Special Administrative Region Fernando Chui Sai-on said that the letter has demonstrated Xi and the central government's care and expectations for Macao's students and youngsters.
China has a large youth population, with more than 248 million aged 15 or below on the Chinese mainland alone.
Despite a busy schedule, Xi still tries to find time to interact with children.
He has extended greetings to children nationwide every International Children's Day since he became president in 2013, showing his care for their growth and his hope for them to carry on endeavors to realize the nation's dreams.
International Children's Day falls on June 1 every year.
In May 2013, while inspecting a school devastated by an earthquake in Sichuan province, Xi told students to turn their trauma into a source of strength, urging them to be strong, brave and united.
When visiting a primary school in Beijing's Haidian district in 2014, Xi spoke of the need to guide children to set high goals and create conditions for them to grow into adulthood.
On June 1, 2015, when speaking to members of the Young Pioneers of China in Beijing, Xi called on all Chinese children to learn to be people of integrity, knowledge and responsibility from an early age.
In 2016, Xi wrote a reply to 12 primary school students in Taizhou, Zhejiang province. They were the grandchildren of those who cultivated the uninhabited Dachen Islands in the 1950s.
In March 2017, Xi joined with primary students in Beijing to plant trees and encouraged them to foster an awareness of environmental protection from childhood.
In 2018, replying to a letter from a primary school in Shaanxi province, Xi expressed hope that the students would learn more about the history of the revolution, follow the example of heroes and role models, love the Party, the country and the people and carry on fine revolutionary traditions.
Xinhua contributed to this story.