BEIJING, Jan. 30 -- The Chinese army and armed police forces said that their morale was greatly boosted after a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to border troops.

The visit that Xi made on Sunday took place in extremely low temperatures in the Sino-Mongolian border where the soldiers were stationed.

During the visit, Xi chatted with a team of soldiers on a patrol mission, expressed his appreciation to them for struggling in the harsh weather to safeguard the country, and joined officers and soldiers for lunch at their canteen.

Lu Lanjun, a sentry guard at Jianfeng Mountain in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that the president's visit was heart-warming.

The soldiers said that they were greatly encouraged by Xi's visit and vowed to make greater contribution to building a strong military power as well as accomplishing all tasks given by the Party and the people.