BEIJING, Jan. 17 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a congratulatory message to Zoran Milanovic on his reelection as Croatian president.

In the message, Xi said that China and Croatia enjoy a profound traditional friendship, and the two countries are good friends and good partners of mutual respect and trust.

In recent years, the two sides have carried out high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and promoted cooperation in various fields with openness, mutual benefit and win-win results, which demonstrated the vitality of bilateral relations, he said.

Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Croatia relations and stands ready to work with Milanovic to push the two countries to advance hand in hand on their respective modernization paths, and open a new chapter in China-Croatia comprehensive cooperative partnership.