BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping and Cape Verdean President Jose Maria Neves on Saturday exchanged congratulations on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In a message, Xi said that China and Cape Verde share a traditional friendship that has stood the test of time and continues to flourish.

Over the past five decades, the two sides have understood and supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, and cooperation in development and livelihood sectors has yielded positive results, he said.

China-Cape Verde relations, he said, set a fine example for mutual respect and friendly cooperation between large and small countries.

Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Cape Verde relations and stands ready to work with Neves to seize the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations to carry forward the time-honored friendship, deepen practical cooperation, and enhance multilateral coordination, to continuously enrich the strategic partnership between the two countries and bring greater benefits to the two peoples.

For his part, Neves said Cape Verde highly appreciates its friendly cooperation with China over the past half-century and thanked China for its valuable contributions to the sustainable development of the nation.

Cape Verde is ready to work with China to take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to consolidate political mutual trust and deepen mutual beneficial cooperation so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples, added Neves.?