Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah exchanged congratulations on the 45th anniversary of their countries’ diplomatic relations on May 31.

China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners, noted Xi in a congratulatory message.

“Over the past 45 years, the bilateral relationship has been constantly strengthened, and practical cooperation has produced extensive benefits for the two peoples and made positive contributions to regional stability and development,” Xi added.“Currently, both China and Malaysia are at a very important stage of development, and bilateral cooperation enjoys broad prospects.”

“I attach great importance to China-Malaysia relations,” he continued, voicing hope that the two sides would seize the opportunities of the Belt and Road to better synergize their development strategies to further enrich their comprehensive strategic partnership and add fresh impetus to regional development.

In his message, Sultan Abdullah said that Malaysia is pleased to see bilateral relations bearing fruits and friendship between the two peoples deepening over the past 45 years.

Malaysia earnestly hopes that bilateral relations will continue to advance to bring more benefits to the two peoples, he added.

The same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Malaysian counterpart, Mahathir Mohamad, also exchanged congratulations.

China and Malaysia established diplomatic relations on May 31, 1974.