President Xi Jinping has encouraged villagers living deep in the mountains in east China's Fujian Province to continuously forge ahead and vitalize the rural areas.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Sunday when replying to a letter from residents of Xiadang Township, Shouning County of Fujian Province.

In the letter to Xi, the villagers said that they had shaken off poverty, and expressed their gratitude to the CPC Central Committee and the general secretary.