More foreign leaders congratulate Xi on election as Chinese president

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- More foreign leaders sent congratulatory messages Sunday to Xi Jinping on his election as the new Chinese president.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, leaders offering congratulations to Xi on Sunday included British Queen Elizabeth II, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was elected state president and chairman of China's Central Military Commission Thursday at the plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).

Also on Sunday, premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Choe Yong-rim, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated Li Keqiang on his endorsement as Chinese premier Friday morning at the first session of the NPC.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also congratulated Zhang Dejiang on his election as chairman of the NPC Standing Committee at Thursday's NPC plenary meeting.

President of the Standing Committee of the Lao Front for National Construction Phandouangchit Vongsa and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon extended their congratulations to Yu Zhengsheng on becoming chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, on Monday at the fourth plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated Li Yuanchao on becoming China's vice president Thursday at the NPC plenary meeting.