国内英语新闻:Xi congratulates new president of Lebanon on assuming office

BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a congratulatory message to newly sworn-in President of the Republic of Lebanon Michel Aoun.

In the message, Xi said that the two countries have maintained a profound friendship since they established diplomatic ties in 1971.

Over the past 45 years, China-Lebanon relations have made substantial progress featuring mutual trust and fruitful win-win cooperation in economy and trade, Xi said.

He added that people-to-people exchanges between China and Lebanon have become increasingly frequent, and the two sides have kept sound communication and cooperation on international and regional affairs.

Xi stressed that he highly values the traditional friendship and bilateral relations between China and Lebanon and that he would work together with his Lebanese counterpart to push the bilateral relations to a new level for the benefit of the two peoples.

Aoun was sworn in as the 13th Lebanese president on Monday.