BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Friday exchanged congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Highlighting the long history of friendly exchanges between China and the Maldives, Xi said since the establishment of diplomatic relations 50 years ago, the two countries have always been respecting and supporting each other, setting a model of equality and mutual benefit between countries of different sizes.

In recent years, the two sides have supported and helped each other in times of difficulty, jointly addressed the pandemic unseen in a century, deepened Belt and Road cooperation, maintained and promoted true multilateralism, which have added new impetus to and opened up new prospects for bilateral relations, Xi said.

Xi said he highly values the development of relations between China and the Maldives, and is willing to make joint efforts with Solih to push forward steady progress of the future-oriented, all-round friendly and cooperative partnership between the two countries and bring more benefits to the two countries and their people.

For his part, Solih said that bilateral relations are built upon their historical bond and on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect, and also on the solid foundation of the Maldivian government's firm adherence to the one-China principle.

Stressing China's contributions to the economic, social and cultural development of the Maldives, Solih said he believes that long-term friendly and cooperative relations established over the past 50 years between the two countries will definitely be further deepened and expanded.

(Source: Xinhua)