国内英语新闻:Leaders of China, six other countries exchange congratulations on 65th anniversary of ties

BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulations respectively with the leaders of Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland on Oct. 4-7 to mark the 65th anniversary of China's diplomatic ties with these countries.

In the congratulatory messages to the heads of state of the six countries, Xi said the six countries were among the first countries that recognized the People's Republic of China in 1949, and China's relations with them have stood the test of time over the past 65 years.

With frequent high-level exchanges, China and the six countries have deepened political mutual trust, expanded economic and trade cooperation and conducted fruitful cooperation in such fields as people-to-people exchanges, education, agriculture and tourism, Xi said.

China attaches great importance to its ties with the six countries and is willing to work with them to deepen practical cooperation so as to lift traditional relations of friendly cooperation with them as well as China-Europe ties to a higher level, Xi said.

In their congratulatory messages to Xi, leaders of the six countries lauded the enormous achievements China has scored in its economic and social development drive.

They expressed the desire to comprehensively strengthen their countries' cooperation with China in various fields and constantly push ahead bilateral ties as well as Europe-China ties.

Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also exchanged congratulations with his counterparts of the six countries.

In his messages, Li said China's ties with the six countries have developed smoothly, with bumper harvest reaped in their cooperation in various fields.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to deepening practical cooperation with the governments of the six countries and stands ready to jointly advance bilateral relations and the comprehensive development of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, Li said.

The prime ministers of the six countries voiced their willingness to comprehensively strengthen practical cooperation with China and actively participate and facilitate fresh progress in China-CEE cooperation.