Azerbaijani president congratulates new Chinese leader

BAKU, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev Friday sent a congratulatory message to China's newly elected President Xi Jinping, saying that his country attaches great importance to relations with China and these relations have deep historical roots.

"The current high level of bilateral relations between our two countries is an important factor in productive cooperation in political, economic and humanitarian spheres. We have good opportunities for further development and expansion of relations for the mutual benefit of our peoples", Ilham Aliyev said in the message.

He expressed confidence that joint efforts towards the constant strengthening of the traditional friendly relations between Azerbaijan and China will continue.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was elected state president of China and chairman of China's Central Military Commission on Thursday at the plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).

Political relations between China and Azerbaijan have grown significantly over the last years. Cultural, educational and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between the two sides became increasingly active as well.

Last year Azerbaijan and China marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.