BEIJING, Jan. 18 -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday extended festive greetings to all Chinese people when he held virtual talks with the general public from across the country ahead of the Spring Festival.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, spoke with medical workers in a hospital, senior citizens at a welfare home, workers at an outlying oilfield, travelers and staff members at a high-speed railway station, vendors and customers at a wholesale market, and people in an ethnic minority village via video link.

Xi wished Chinese people of all ethnic groups healthy and happy lives in the Year of the Rabbit and expressed his hope that the country will enjoy prosperity.

This year's Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on Jan. 22.