London, Feb 13 (TIWN) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday sent his greetings in a video to people celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year this weekend, wishing them "a happy and prosperous" Year of the Ox.

In the one-minute video posted to his twitter account, Johnson first sent his new year wishes and thanked the British Chinese community "for the incredible contribution you make to our country, consistently achieving so much in everything from education to business and medicine".

"Unfortunately this year's celebrations can not include the usual dragon dances and other fantastic festivities, because of our battle against the COVID. But I hope all of us can take heart from this Year of the Ox," said the prime minister.

"And just as that mighty beast (Ox) demonstrates strength and determination, as it forges ahead to make progress, so too, I believe, we will win our struggle against the pandemic," he added.

Looking ahead to the Chinese New Year, he noted that Britain and China "have many shared challenges" from defeating COVID-19 to tackling climate change and supporting a worldwide economic recovery.