Chinese President Hu Jintao and Moroccan King Mohammed VI on Saturday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his letter, Hu said China and Morocco enjoy a time-honored friendship, and Morocco was among the first African countries to establish diplomatic ties with the new China.

With mutual understanding, support as well as sincere and win-win cooperation, bilateral relations have developed soundly in the past 50 years, Hu said.

The two countries maintain frequent exchanges of high-level visits, with the new century witnessing an exchange of visits to the two countries by President Hu and the Moroccan king.

It conforms to the fundamental aspirations and interests of the two peoples to maintain traditional friendship, intensify friendly exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and enhance bilateral ties in an all-round way, which also benefits the development of Sino-African and Sino-Arab ties, the Chinese president said.

In his letter, King Mohammed VI said bilateral relations have a solid foundation. The 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties marks an important milestone in the development of bilateral ties, and Morocco is ready to work with China to further deepen and expand the existing friendly ties.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2008)