Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday congratulated Ismail Sabri Yaakob on taking office as the prime minister of Malaysia. 

In his congratulatory message, Li hailed the traditional friendship between China and Malaysia as neighbors facing each other across the sea. Bilateral relations have maintained a good momentum of development for a long time, with close and intensive cooperation in various fields, he said. 

The development of China-Malaysia relations has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and made positive contributions to regional stability and development, he added. 

Li said he looks forward to making joint efforts with Ismail Sabri to further deepen the two countries' cooperation in fighting COVID-19 and development, promote pragmatic cooperation in key areas to achieve more results, and continuously lift the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership to higher levels. 

Ismail Sabri was sworn in as Malaysia's prime minister on Saturday, succeeding Muhyiddin Yassin who resigned after losing majority support in the lower house of parliament.

(With input from Xinhua)