Xi exchanges congratulations with Israeli president on 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday exchanged congratulatory messages with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Xi noted that since the establishment of their diplomatic relations, the two peoples have deepened their friendship and bilateral relations have achieved remarkable progress.

Since China and Israel forged an innovative comprehensive partnership in 2017, exchanges and cooperation in various fields have yielded fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, Xi added.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Israel relations, Xi said he is ready to work with Herzog to take the 30th anniversary as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and promote the stable development of the China-Israel innovative comprehensive partnership, so as to benefit the two countries and their people.

For his part, Herzog said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, the two countries have been deepening their bilateral relations with exchanges getting even closer.

Bilateral cooperation has reaped bumper harvests in such fields as economy, agriculture, health, tourism and culture, which has benefited the people of the two countries, Herzog added.

Noting that he highly values the innovative comprehensive partnership between Israel and China, Herzog said he looks forward to further promoting bilateral relations during his term of office.

Also on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with his Israeli counterpart, Naftali Bennett.

Li said in recent years, innovative cooperation between China and Israel has made rewarding results and achieved win-win outcomes.

China stands ready to work with Israel to uphold the spirit of win-win cooperation, strengthen political mutual trust and further improve pragmatic cooperation in various fields, so as to push for greater development of bilateral relations, Li added.

In his message, Bennett said since the two countries fostered diplomatic relations 30 years ago, especially since the establishment of an innovative comprehensive partnership five years ago, bilateral cooperation has developed in an all-round way.

Bennett voiced confidence that Israel-China cooperation will continue to deepen in the future so as to bring more gains to the people of the two countries.