BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday exchanged congratulatory messages with Governor-General of Jamaica Patrick Allen on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Jamaica was among the first countries in the English-speaking Caribbean region to establish diplomatic relations with China, Xi said.

In the past 50 years, China-Jamaica ties have always maintained a good momentum of development, with the two sides deepening political mutual trust, achieving fruitful results in practical cooperation and increasing friendship between their people, he added.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi said, China and Jamaica have been helping each other and jointly fighting the coronavirus, injecting fresh impetus into the friendly cooperation between the two countries.

Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Jamaica relations, and is ready to work with Allen, taking the 50th anniversary as a new starting point, to deepen cooperation in various fields, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, jointly lead China-Jamaica strategic partnership to a new level, and work together to build a China-Jamaica community of a shared future in the new era.

Allen said since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, friendly relations between Jamaica and China have been developing continuously with cooperation in various fields yielding remarkable results, which is encouraging.

He added that Jamaica is ready to continue to strengthen cooperation with China and further deepen their strategic partnership.

Also on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Li said Jamaica is an important cooperative partner of China in the Caribbean region, adding that China is ready to work with Jamaica to further deepen and cement the strategic partnership, so as to bring more benefits to their people.

For his part, Holness said Jamaica highly appreciates China's valuable support for its economic growth and social development and his country stands ready to continue to strengthen cooperation with China to ensure that the strategic partnership will benefit their people.