BEIJING — Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages on Nov 4 with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his message, Premier Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 50 years ago, China and Italy have adhered to mutual respect, mutual trust and win-win cooperation, achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation in various fields, and made sustained and sound development in bilateral relations.

Premier Li said that he is willing to work with his Italian counterpart and take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to continuously deepen bilateral friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation and constantly improve the level of China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership, in order to bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples.

Conte said in his message that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 50 years ago, Italy and China have maintained close communication, cooperation and exchanges in the spirit of friendship, respect and mutual benefit, and bilateral relations have been continuously enriched.

The Italy-China joint fight against COVID-19 has become an example of the strong relationship between the two peoples and governments, he added.

The Italian prime minister said he believes the partnership between the two countries has bright prospects and that he is willing to work with his Chinese counterpart to promote the new development of bilateral relations and better meet the expectations of the two peoples.