Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets with his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dec 9, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulations Wednesday with his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied, on the 60th anniversary of China-Tunisia diplomatic relations.

In a message, Xi said China and Tunisia, with a profound traditional friendship, have witnessed sound and steady growth of bilateral ties since they established diplomatic ties 60 years ago, no matter how the international landscape evolves.

Xi said he highly prizes the development of China-Tunisia relations and is willing to work with Saied to take the 60th anniversary as a new starting point, renew the traditional friendship of the two countries and push for greater progress in bilateral friendly cooperative relations

Over the past years, the political mutual trust between the two sides has been cemented, and exchanges and cooperation have made substantial progress in various fields, he said.

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"During the China-Arab States Summit in December 2022, I met with President Saied and we reached important consensus, charting the course for the development of China-Tunisia relations", he said.

Xi said he highly prizes the development of China-Tunisia relations and is willing to work with Saied to take the 60th anniversary as a new starting point, renew the traditional friendship of the two countries and push for greater progress in bilateral friendly cooperative relations.

Saied, for his part, said that over the past years, Tunisia and China, with a long-lasting friendship as well as fruitful cooperation, have upheld common values, stayed committed to cementing and expanding bilateral ties, and conducted increasingly close cooperation on international and regional affairs.

Tunisia is willing to work with the Chinese side to foster a new type of partnership covering various areas and featuring a broad prospect, so as to elevate bilateral ties to a higher level, he said.

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On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani.

In his message, Li said he would like to work with Hachani to implement the important consensuses reached by the two heads of state, deepen and expand mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, and continuously enrich the China-Tunisia friendly cooperative relations.

For his part, Hachani said that Tunisia looks forward to continuing to work with China to enhance bilateral friendship, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields and serve the common interests of the two peoples.  

Foreign Minister Wang Yi meanwhile exchanged congratulations with his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar, on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

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Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 60 years ago, China-Tunisia relations have been developing healthily and steadily, with bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields scoring remarkable achievements, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.