Xi sends greetings to Slovenia's new head of state

President Xi Jinping has congratulated Natasa Pirc Musar on her taking office as Slovenia's president, saying that he stands ready to work with her in promoting bilateral ties.

In a congratulatory message sent to Musar on Thursday, Xi said that in recent years, China and Slovenia have maintained steady development of bilateral ties with political mutual trust enhanced constantly, synergy between their development strategies strengthened and fruitful achievements from pragmatic cooperation in various fields.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of relations with Slovenia, Xi said that he is willing to work with Musar to consolidate the traditional friendship between the two countries, deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields and advance the higher-level development of bilateral ties to deliver more benefits to the two countries and their peoples.

Musar, 54, took the oath of office during a ceremonial session of Slovenia's National Assembly on Thursday. She is the country's fifth, and first female, president.

A lawyer, former journalist and former national information commissioner, Musar was elected last month. She won 54 percent of the vote and beat her competitor, conservative lawmaker and former foreign minister Anze Logar.