BEIJING -- The letter sent by Xi Jinping to Ta Kung Pao shows his deep care for the newspaper and all members of its parent media group, his tremendous encouragement for all Hong Kong media that love the country and love Hong Kong, and his earnest expectations for Hong Kong to take on a new outlook and open a new chapter.

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks Sunday.

Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent a congratulatory letter to Ta Kung Pao on the 120th anniversary of its founding on Sunday.

In the letter, Xi expressed the hope that the newspaper will write even more splendid chapters of the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems," and contribute more to realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, said the spokesperson.

The letter is also a call on the whole Hong Kong society and all Hong Kong compatriots. It points to the direction for Hong Kong to better integrate itself into the country's development plans and to achieve long-term stability and prosperity, said the spokesperson.

The newspaper, founded on June 17, 1902, is the oldest Chinese-language newspaper still in circulation in the world.

In 2016, it was merged into Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group and has since accelerated its integrated development to form an all-media network based in Hong Kong with an aim of serving Chinese readers across the globe.