President Xi Jinping congratulated Jose Ramos-Horta on Tuesday on his election as President of Timor-Leste, saying he is willing to work with Ramos-Horta to boost bilateral ties.
Xi said that since the two countries established diplomatic ties 20 years ago, both China and Timor-Leste have deepened their pragmatic cooperation with their ties developing significantly, which has resulted in substantial benefits to their people.
He said that the two countries have become a vivid example of a big and a small country treating each other as equals and developing win-win cooperation.
He considers developing ties between China and Timor-Leste of great importance, and he said he is willing to work with Ramos-Horta to advance to a new stage in the two countries' cooperative partnership, which includes good neighborly friendship, mutual trust and mutual benefit.
Ramos-Horta, 72, scored a landslide victory in Timor-Leste's presidential election on April 19, in which he was elected for the second time. From 2007 to 2012 he served as president of the Southeast Asian country. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2006 and Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007.
Ramos-Horta was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his efforts in facilitating conflict resolution in the country. He is due to take office on May 20.
China is the first country to have diplomatic relations with Timor-Leste since it declared independence in 2002. Relations between the two countries have grown over the past two decades with the political mutual trust between them strengthened and mutually beneficial cooperation promoted in various fields.