Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his Croatian counterpart, Stjepan Mesic, on Sunday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Jiang said in his congratulatory telegram that China and Croatia had regarded each other as an equal partner, with mutual respect and mutual trust since they set up diplomatic relations ten years ago.
He said that with efforts from both sides, China and Croatia have held frequent high-level political dialogue, while cooperation in the fields of economy, culture, science and technology, education, health care and tourism has deepened and local and non-governmental exchanges increased.
He said the experience had proved that it was in keeping with the common wish and basic interests of the two peoples to maintain and develop friendly cooperation in various sectors, based on the principles of non-interference with each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence as well as other widely recognized rules of international law.
Jiang said he hoped that both countries would make concerted efforts to further promote Sino-Croatian relations to a healthy, stable and comprehensive level, as the bilateral ties had made great achievements over the past ten years.
Mesic, on his part, said in the congratulatory message that Croatia and China had signed bilateral accords concerning various sectors within a solid framework, while the two governments and two parliaments had kept close cooperation over the decade.
He said there was no dispute during cooperation between Croatia and China after the two countries had solved all lingering problems on the basis of mutual understanding and insistence on the interests of the two.
He said he believed that the two peoples would benefit from the development of bilateral relations, while the principles on which the bilateral ties had relied made a contribution to international relations.
Mesic added that as a standing member of the United Nations Security Council, China and its policy will continue to be an important factor in international relations.
On Sunday, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and his Croatian counterpart, Ivica Racan, also exchanged congratulatory messages on the anniversary. Zhu said China and Croatia had maintained a sound growth of bilateral ties in the past ten years, with mutual respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as respect for each other's ways of development.
Both sides vowed to make more efforts to develop cooperation in all aspects between the two countries.
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula also exchanged congratulatory messages on the occasion.
(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2002)
