China and Saudi Arabia Wednesday celebrated their 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties at a reception?in Beijing.

Senior Chinese political advisor Wang Zhizhen and the Saudi Ambassador to China, Yahya A. S. Alzaid, addressed the reception.

Wang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, spoke highly of the development of Sino-Saudi relations.

She said China is ready to make joint efforts with Saudi Arabia to deepen the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperative ties between the two nations.

She also said China hopes to develop the bilateral strategic relationship.

Yahya hailed the two nations' traditional friendship. He said the bilateral relationship is built on candor, cooperation and mutual understanding.

He said Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz attaches great importance to the development of relations with China.

In recent years, bilateral cooperation in the areas of politics, economics and culture have made remarkable progress, creating a solid foundation for the Saudi-China relationship, he said.

Around 500 people from various circles attended the reception.