Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday hailed the longstanding friendship between China and Peru and called on the two countries to jointly push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Xi made the remarks when exchanging congratulatory messages with Peru's President Pedro Castillo.

The bilateral ties share a solid foundation, despite the long distance between the two countries, Xi said.

He noted that in the past 50 years, the two countries have deepened their political mutual trust, expanded pragmatic cooperation and increased personnel exchanges.

The China-Peru relationship has become a model for cooperation and common development between China and Latin American countries, said Xi, who called on the two countries to enhance the integration of their development strategies, speed up optimization of cooperation and carry on the traditional friendship.

In his congratulatory message, Castillo welcomed the upgrading of bilateral relations in recent years, thanks to the traditional friendship between the two sides.

Noting that Peru and China are both countries with ancient civilizations, Castillo reiterated Peru's high attention to its relationship with China. He thanked China for its assistance in Peru's fight against COVID-19.

Peru is ready to maintain high-level exchanges with China and work jointly to deepen cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, tourism and digitalization, Castillo stressed.

Reassuring Peru's commitment to upholding multilateralism together with China, the Peruvian president also proposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and realize post-pandemic recovery under joint efforts.