国内英语新闻:CPC Central Committee hosts gala to celebrate Lantern Festival

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Thursday night hosted a gala to celebrate the traditional Lantern Festival.

Chinese President and General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao and eight other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee attended the event, along with representatives from Beijing's intellectual circle.

The eight CPC leaders included Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang.

The gala was presided over by Li Changchun, who extended warm regards to the participants on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

Mentioning 2010 as an extraordinary year for China's development, Li said the CPC Central Committee, with Hu Jintao as the General Secretary, led the Party and nation to successfully host the Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games.