国内英语新闻:Chinese, Singaporean presidents exchange congratulatory messages on anniversary of ties

BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Singaporean counterpart Tony Tan Keng Yam exchanged congratulatory messages Saturday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Xi said China and Singapore are close, friendly neighbors, and bilateral relations have experienced continuous and in-depth development since the establishment of diplomatic ties 25 years ago, with fruitful achievements in cooperation in various fields and good communication and coordination in international and regional affairs.

Xi said China highly values the development of China-Singapore relations, and said he hopes to make joint endeavors with Tan to continuously deepen political mutual trust, gain more new results in practical cooperation and bring the China-Singapore friendly and cooperative relations to a new level.

For his part, Tan said in his message that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have continuously progressed and the friendship between the two peoples has become increasingly closer.

Tan also said he looks forward to making joint efforts with Xi, on the basis of a sound bilateral relationship, to further deepen and expand cooperation and better benefit the peoples of the two countries.