Xi greets new Pakistani president

China and Pakistan should support each other more firmly and deepen cooperation under current circumstances, President Xi Jinping said in a message on Tuesday congratulating Arif Alvi on being elected as the Pakistani president.

Xi said he values greatly the development of China-Pakistan ties, and hopes to work with Alvi to push bilateral ties to a new height, and to build a closer community with a shared future between the two countries.

China and Pakistan are good neighbors, good friends and good brothers, whose friendship has been firm and kept developing throughout changing international circumstances, Xi said.

The two countries decided to lift bilateral ties to an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership during Xi's visit to Pakistan in 2015.

Under the two countries' joint efforts in recent years, political mutual trust between them has become stronger, and the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has yielded fruitful results, which benefit not only the two countries and their people, but also contribute to regional peace and development, Xi said.

Alvi, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was elected president of the country on Tuesday.

He will replace the incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain, who will complete his five-year term on Saturday.

The newly-elected president can be sworn in at any time after the federal government issues a notification, but he would be able to assume the office once Hussain's term concludes.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/06/2018 page12)