Dear Friends of the Catholic and Protestant Churches,

On the occasion of the coming Christmas, we would like to extend our sincere greetings and best wishes to you all.

In the year that is almost coming to the end, clergy and church members from Catholic and Protestant churches conscientiously studied and implemented the spirit of the 19^th CPC National Congress and the National Conference on Religious Work, adhered to the correct direction of ZhongGuoHua (the indigenization and contextualization of Christianity in China), steadily pushed forward the reconstruction of theological thinking, actively fulfilled social responsibilities, deepened friendly exchanges with overseas guests, constantly strengthened self-construction, maintained harmony and stability in Catholicism and Protestantism and played an important role in promoting economic and social development.

The year 2018 marks the beginning year of the implementation of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up. It is a key year for securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and implementing the "13th Five-Year Plan". We hope that the friends from Catholic and Protestant churches would fully implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, take Xi Jinping’s thoughts of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era as guidance, unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, continue to thoroughly implement the spirit of the National Conference on Religious Work and the newly-amended Regulations on Religious Affairs, always adhere to the direction of ZhongGuoHua, actively implement the core values of socialism, vigorously carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture, thoroughly push forward the reconstruction of theological thinking, make great efforts to carry out the charity work, and make a contribution to securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, striving for the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era and accomplishing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

I wish you a happy and peaceful festival!

State Administration of Religious Affairs

22 December, 2017