BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Friday exchanged congratulations on the 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Noting that China and Singapore are friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners, Xi said that over the past 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have adhered to mutual respect, mutual trust and win-win cooperation.

The bilateral relationship has continuously improved and upgraded with cooperation in various fields yielding fruitful results, he said, adding that both sides have also advanced hand in hand in their respective modernization processes, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries.

China is willing to take the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to further deepen political mutual trust, promote high-level cooperation, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, and jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and the basic norms governing international relations, so as to promote the all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership between China and Singapore, contributing even more to regional and global peace and prosperity, he added.

For his part, Shanmugaratnam noted that in 2023, Singapore-China relations were elevated to an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership, and cooperation between the two governments continued to advance, constantly integrating new features and demonstrating foresight.

Responding to the demands of the times, both sides have actively expanded cooperation in new areas, while the peoples of the two countries have steadily strengthened cultural ties, Shanmugaratnam said, expressing firm belief that the two countries will continue to work closely together, pushing their bilateral relationship to new heights.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong exchanged congratulatory messages.

Li said that China is ready to further strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Singapore, deepen high-level cooperation across various fields, and work together to uphold the multilateral trading system, so as to contribute to the development of both countries and the prosperity and stability of the region.

For his part, Wong said that Singapore-China relations have continued to deepen over the years, with strong mutual trust built.

Singapore is willing to keep expanding cooperation with China in various fields and jointly safeguard free trade and the multilateral system, he added.