BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory letter to Jilin University, celebrating its 80th founding anniversary.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended congratulations to the faculty, students and alumni of the university.

He urged the university to carry forward the revolutionary traditions, leverage its comprehensive strengths, focus on the country's strategic needs, cultivate more high-caliber talent, and make greater contributions to the full revitalization of the Northeast in the new era and to advancing Chinese modernization.