50TH ANNIV OF DIPLOMATIC TIESChina ready to deepen ties with Bangladesh: Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said China attaches great importance to relations with Bangladesh and stands ready to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote common development.

He made the remarks in a letter written to President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Saturday, exchanging congratulatory messages marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, reports Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The Chinese president stressed that China wants to take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to deepen the relations and to better benefit the two peoples and make a greater contribution to world peace and development.

In recent years, China and Bangladesh have continued to consolidate political mutual trust, expand high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as well as practical cooperation in various fields, and further deepen their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, said Xi.

For his part, Shahabuddin said that over the past 50 years, Bangladesh and China have forged a deep friendship based on mutual respect and trust, as well as enduring cooperation, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

He noted that Bangladesh highly appreciates China's important role in promoting regional peace, stability and common prosperity, and expressed gratitude for China's long-term valuable support for Bangladesh's sustainable development.

He expressed the belief that with the joint efforts of the leaders and peoples of the two countries, bilateral cooperation will yield even greater results.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus also exchanged congratulatory messages.

Li said that China highly values the development of China-Bangladesh relations, and stands ready to work with Bangladesh to take the 50th anniversary as an opportunity to accelerate high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

He also said China is willing to collaborate across various fields, while promoting the continued growth of the China-Bangladesh comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

On his part, Yunus said that since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations 50 years ago, the friendship between the two peoples has grown stronger, bilateral ties have developed steadily, and cooperation has yielded fruitful results, which is worth celebrating.

"Bangladesh is committed to promoting new achievements in the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries," he added.