China, Iran presidents celebrate 50 years of ties

President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages on Monday with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Iran, and they vowed to deepen the countries' traditional friendship and expand their pragmatic cooperation in various fields.

In his message to his Iranian counterpart, Xi said that since the two countries established diplomatic relations half a century ago, relations between China and Iran have developed steadily and the traditional friendship between the two countries has grown stronger with time.

The political mutual trust between the two countries has increasingly strengthened and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields has witnessed steady progress since they established their comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, Xi said.

He spoke of the mutual support and assistance between Beijing and Teheran following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the two countries have stood closely together through thick and thin and cooperated well in the fight against the pandemic.

Xi said he considers the development of China-Iran relations to be of great importance and that he is willing to work with Raisi to take the anniversary as an opportunity to advance the countries' pragmatic cooperation in various fields to make the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership more meaningful and to benefit the two countries and the two peoples.

Raisi said that both Iran and China are ancient civilizations and their friendship stands as a towering old tree that draws nutrients from thousands of years of bilateral friendly exchanges.

The friendship has laid a profound foundation for the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, he added.

Noting that Iran remains firmly committed to building strong relations with China, Raisi said that as bilateral diplomatic ties enter their sixth decade, Iran stands ready to continue upgrading strategic cooperation with China, strengthen communication on expanding practical cooperation in various fields and continuously deepen bilateral ties.

Earlier this year, China and Iran inked a 25-year blueprint to enhance bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperation. Under the deal, the two countries aim to tap potential in economic and cultural cooperation and make plans for long-term cooperation, which, analysts said, will promote the continuous upgrading of their comprehensive strategic partnership.

In a signed article published on Sunday by Iran's mainstream media, including the Islamic Republic News Agency, Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua said China-Iran relations have withstood the test of the changing international situation.

The two countries have firmly supported each other on issues related to their core interests and major concerns, which has effectively consolidated strategic mutual trust between the two countries and firmly safeguarded international fairness and justice, Chang said.