President Xi Jinping has encouraged residents of a mountainous township in Fujian province to continue their unrelenting efforts to consolidate poverty reduction outcomes and achieve rural vitalization.

Xi, who also is general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark in a letter replying to residents of the township of Xiadang, in the province's Shou­ning county.

In a letter to Xi, the villagers wrote they had shaken off poverty and expressed their gratitude to the CPC Central Committee and the general secretary.

Xi's letter, published on Tuesday, recalled the three arduous journeys he made to the township, saying he still has vivid memories of the area.

Xi worked in Fujian between 1985 and 2002. He made his first trip to the township to learn about poverty alleviation and provide instructions on the work on July 19, 1989, when he was Party secretary of Ningde. The township was once among the most remote and poorest areas in Ningde.

It took him a three-hour car ride and a two-hour walk in scorching summer heat to reach the township, which had no paved roads at the time, according to Xinhua News Agency. He made another two trips to township, later that year and in 1996.

Xi expressed his delight after learning that the township had shaken off poverty, and he offered hearty congratulations to villagers.

After 30 years of unremitting efforts, Xiadang has shifted from being almost inaccessible to being easily reached and has been transformed inside and out, with residents having an increasing sense of gains and happiness, Xi said.

It has been a vivid example of the truth of such sayings as, "A slow sparrow should make an early start" and "Little strokes fell great oaks", he said.

Xi said he hopes the villagers will forge ahead with a persistent spirit, enhance their confidence and make sustained and arduous efforts to consolidate the outcomes of poverty reduction.

He also encouraged them to explore a path of rural vitalization with the characteristics of eastern Fujian during the process.

The letter to Xi was written by six Party members on behalf of all villagers in the township.

Xinhua contributed to this story.