BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday exchanged congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In his congratulatory message to the Palestinian president, Xi said the two countries enjoy a long history of friendship. China is among the first countries to support the just cause of the Palestinian people and to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as one of the earliest countries to establish diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine.
Over the past 30 years, the two countries have conducted exchanges and cooperation in various fields with fruitful results, Xi said.
The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to the China-Palestine relations, and is willing to work together with Abbas to continue pushing forward bilateral friendly cooperation, so as to better benefit the two countries and their peoples.
Noting that China has always supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, Xi said China firmly supports the establishment of an independent Palestine state with full sovereignty on the basis of 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
China will push forward the Palestine-Israel peace talks and continue to play a positive role in the early realization of a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian issue, he said.
In his congratulatory message to Xi, Abbas said that he is very proud of the traditional friendship between the two countries and their peoples, and highly appreciates the outstanding and important role that China has played in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause.
Noting that the Palestinian people will continue to carry forward the traditional friendship with China, Abbas said he will, as always, value and promote bilateral relations, in order to benefit the two peoples and realize their shared vision.
Also on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah exchanged congratulatory messages.
In his message, Li said since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Palestine have witnessed close high-level exchanges, deepened political mutual trust, expanded cooperation in various fields and healthy development of bilateral ties.
Li said he is ready to work together with his Palestinian counterpart to bring about greater progress in the friendly cooperation between the two countries.
Noting that China will, as always, support the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, Li said China sincerely hopes that the Palestinian people can achieve their dream of establishing an independent state at an early date.
In his message to Li, Hamdallah expressed deep gratitude for the precious support from China in the past 30 years, saying that Palestine is willing to boost and expand bilateral relations and cooperation with the Chinese government to realize their common interests.
