Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with the retirees during a gala for retired military officials with Beijing-based troops in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 22, 2019. (File photo: Xinhua)

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed cherishing the glorious history and preserving political integrity while pooling positive energy for strengthening the country and revitalizing the armed forces in a set of instructions on the work related to veteran military officers.

The instructions by Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), were made as a teleconference on the work concerning veteran military officers was held Monday.

Xi paid high respect to veteran officers and extended sincere greetings to staff working for them.

Noting the important contributions of retired officers, Xi expressed the hope that they remain true to the original aspiration and keep the mission firmly in mind, calling on them to cherish the glorious history and preserve political integrity.

Xi called for more efforts to respect and serve the retirees and continuously break new ground in the work related to veteran officers.

Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the CMC, said that Xi's important instructions provided fundamental guidelines for the work related to veteran officers in the new era.

Zhang added that relevant policies and systems should be improved to enhance the sense of happiness and fulfillment of veteran officers.

At the conference, a number of individuals and units involved in the work concerning veteran military officers were awarded.

Miao Hua, a member of the CMC and director of the Political Work Department of the CMC, presided over the meeting.