Staff of China Daily gathered at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 31 to celebrate the newspaper's 30th anniversary, which falls on June 1.

The ceremony started with a congratulatory letter from Li Changchun, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee Liu Yunshan, Minister of the State Council Information Office Wang Chen, China Daily's Editor-in-chief Zhu Ling, and staff representatives all delivered speeches.

Some other state leaders and heads of other media were also present.

Founded in 1981 as China's only national English-language newspaper, China Daily now has a circulation of almost 500,000 worldwide. It has set up over 30 news branches across China in the last few years and also in the UK, Belgium and the US. So far it is the only Chinese newspaper that has effectively entered Western mainstream society and the one most quoted by the foreign press.

The China Daily Media Group has ten print publications in total. With the website attracting more than 31 million hits each day, China Daily is building up a multiple-platform news distribution network. It delivers news via the mobile portal, iPhone and iPad applications and a bilingual Mobile newspaper with more than 600,000 paid subscribers. China Daily also produces eClips catering to an audience of influential readers, manage the Asia News Photo website, and host China's largest professional cartoon website, the Newscartoon.

On June 1, China Daily will hold an open house in its main lobby, where former colleagues will join all the staff to mark the special day.

Video: Christie Lee

Videographer: Zhang Xiao, Lou Yi, Lin Hanqing

Voiceover: Christie Lee

Producer: Flora Yue