Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah on Friday exchanged congratulations on the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between their two countries.

China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners, Xi said in his message, adding that fruitful results have been achieved through practical cooperation between the two sides over the past 45 years, which has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and made positive contributions to regional stability and development.

He called on the two countries to seize the opportunity in co-building the Belt and Road to enhance the alignment of development strategies.

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Malaysian PM: The BRI is a great initiative

Proposed by Xi in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.

Sultan Abdullah said Malaysia is glad to see the continuous development of Malaysia-China relations and the deepening of friendship between the two peoples. Malaysia earnestly expects that bilateral ties will continue to develop and prosper and contribute to development in the region, he noted.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also exchanged congratulations with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday.

Mahathir attended the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in late April.