BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on Friday exchanged congratulations on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

China and Malaysia are neighbors with a millennium-old friendship, friends whose hearts are connected, and partners for win-win cooperation, Xi said.

Over the past half a century, the two countries have always treated each other with sincerity, supported each other in solidarity, and sought development together, Xi said, adding that China-Malaysia relations have always been at the forefront of regional countries.

The Chinese president noted that in 2023, the two sides reached important consensus on jointly building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, ushering in a new historical stage in bilateral relations.

The friendship between China and Malaysia is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, providing an inexhaustible driving force for the continuous development of bilateral relations, he said.

Xi said he recently received a letter from Malaysian students studying at Tianjin University in China, who are determined to be messengers and promoters of China-Malaysia friendship and aspire to use their knowledge to help build the China-Malaysia community with a shared future.

He said he is pleased to see that the cause of friendship between the two countries has inheritors.

Stressing that China-Malaysia relations have reached a new historic starting point, Xi expressed readiness to work with King Sultan Ibrahim to guide the building of the China-Malaysia community with a shared future for new accomplishments, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples, make greater contributions to regional prosperity and stability, and jointly usher in the next 50 brilliant years of China-Malaysia relations.

For his part, Sultan Ibrahim said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 50 years ago, Malaysia and China have always respected and trusted each other, and bilateral relations have constantly achieved new development.

Since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013, bilateral cooperation and exchanges in economy and trade, investment, culture, as well as people-to-people exchanges have been further deepened and expanded, he said.

On the occasion of jointly celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Malaysia will always work hand in hand with China to bring prosperity and deliver benefits to the two peoples, he added.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang exchanged congratulations with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

China is willing to join hands with Malaysia to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as a new starting point from which to deepen the docking of development strategies, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, promote mutual understanding and amity between the two peoples, and continuously enrich the connotation of the China-Malaysia community with a shared future, Li said.

Anwar said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, Malaysia-China relations have achieved milestone achievements on the basis of mutual respect and trust.

The two sides held high-level visits and various commemorative activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, fully demonstrating the strategic significance of the high-level bilateral partnership, he said.