Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on artists of the National Theatre of China to tell well China's stories, and create more excellent works that are worthy of the times and true to the expectations of the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Saturday in his letter replying to the artists on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the National Theatre of China.

In his letter, Xi hailed the efforts that the artists made in implementing the Party's guiding principles in the fields of literature and art, as well as their contributions to the prosperity and development of China's cause of literature and art.

Xi also called for persistent efforts to keep pace with the times, uphold the position of the people, and innovate on the basis of past achievements, in a bid to make greater contributions to the prosperity and development of the literature and art in the new era, and help to enrich people's cultural life.

The National Theatre of China, formerly a youth art theatre of Yan'an, was upgraded into the current one on Dec. 25, 2001.

A total of 16 artists from the National Theatre of China wrote to Xi recently, expressing their determination to create excellent works for developing a strong culture in China.