More foreign leaders congratulate Xi as Chinese president

More foreign leaders have sent congratulations Thursday to Xi Jinping on his election as Chinese president.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, messages received Thursday included those from Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Yemeni President Abdal-Rab Mansur Al-Hadii, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, President of Benin's National Assembly Mathurin Nago, Chairman of Bahrain Consultative Council Ali Saleh Al-Saleh, Director-General of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union Hamadoun Toure, World Economic Forum President Klaus Schwab, and President of Latvia's Social Democratic Party "Harmony" Janis Urbanovics.

In addition, Mali's Traore extended congratulations to Xi on his election as chairman of China's Central Military Commission.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was elected state president and chairman of China's Central Military Commission on March 14 at the plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress.