Xi congratulates Timor-Leste on 20 years of ties

President Xi Jinping and his Timor-Leste counterpart Jose Ramos-Horta exchanged congratulations on Friday on the 20th anniversary of Timor-Leste's restoration of independence and the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, with both leaders vowing to promote bilateral friendship and cooperation.

In his message to Ramos-Horta, Xi said that over the past 20 years, Timor-Leste has actively developed its economy and improved people's lives, showing great vitality.

Noting that China and Timor-Leste have a long history of friendship, Xi said that since they established diplomatic ties 20 years ago, both countries have witnessed a sound and steady development momentum in their relations, with political mutual trust deepened, pragmatic cooperation making solid progress and cultural and people-to-people exchanges becoming closer.

Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of relations with Timor-Leste, and said he is willing to work with Ramos-Horta to constantly bring the countries' comprehensive cooperative partnership featuring good-neighborliness, friendship, mutual trust and mutual benefit to a new level, in order to deliver more benefits to the two countries and their peoples.

Ramos-Horta said in his message that Timor-Leste appreciates China's crucial role in promoting regional and global peace and stability, as well as its strong support for his country's development, saying that Timor-Leste will stand firmly with China in enhancing bilateral friendship and cooperation.

China was the first country to establish diplomatic ties with Timor-Leste when it declared independence in 2002. Over the past two decades, relations between the two countries have grown rapidly.

Also on Friday, Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Timor-Leste Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak on the 20th anniversary.

Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, bilateral relations have been developing smoothly, with steady progress in exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

He said that China attaches importance to developing friendly and cooperative relations with Timor-Leste and will continue to support the country's development and push for deeper and more concrete bilateral cooperation.

Ruak said Timor-Leste and China share a long-standing brotherly friendship and fruitful bilateral cooperation. He looked forward to further strengthening cooperation between the two countries to jointly address the challenges of post-pandemic recovery.