President Xi Jinping met with representatives of the nearly 500 overseas Chinese from 130 countries taking part in the 10th Conference for Friendship of Overseas Chinese Associations that convened in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday.

Overseas Chinese are important members of the big family of the Chinese nation. Many have faced tremendous difficulties over the past three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past three years, the Chinese government has provided more than 1 million packages of essential medical supplies to overseas Chinese and Chinese students in 163 countries, and COVID-19 vaccines for nearly 5 million Chinese nationals and 200,000 overseas Chinese in 180 countries.

The Conference for Friendship of Overseas Chinese Associations has been held every two years. Although the theme of each session has changed in response to the development of the times, its purpose of promoting friendship, unity and cooperation has never changed. This year's conference highlighted the special roles overseas Chinese can play in the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The conference called on overseas Chinese to stay united, help each other, integrate into the local community, always maintain the love for their hometowns and serve as a bridge for exchanges between the motherland and the world.

In particular, the conference encouraged the about 20,000 overseas Chinese organizations to pay attention to cultivating new forces among young people and actively embracing information technology in the process.

It is hoped that the organizations will be able to play a bigger role in connecting, serving, protecting and uniting overseas Chinese, help them strengthen bonds, solve difficulties and develop their careers.

The conference also stressed that the overseas Chinese should learn to be inclusive, learn local languages and merge into local cultures, respect local customs and habits, and try to live in harmony with the mainstream society.

The nation's sincere regards that President Xi extended to the participants at the conference should reassure all overseas Chinese they have the deep love and support of their motherland.

CHINA NEWS SERVICE