MAPUTO, June 25 -- Chinese ambassador to Mozambique Li Chunhua on Thursday congratulated the southern African country for the progress it made during the past 40 years of independence, hoping to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters in the capital Maputo, after Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi laid a wreath at the Heroes Acre as part of the independence celebrations, Li said he sees with great eyes the future of Mozambique, which will consolidate itself with the strengthening of cooperation in the industrialization sector between the two sides.

"We are very happy. We convey our happiness to the Mozambican people. Mozambique in the future will grow more and the lives of the Mozambican people will also improve more. The country's economy is growing significantly," he said.

According to the Chinese ambassador, Mozambique and China may strengthen the cooperation in the industrialization sector, "because Mozambique has conditions to use new technologies in the industry, and we hope that this cooperation in the industrial sector in Mozambique will develop more."

Li stressed the importance of the 40 years of independence, which also represents 40 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mozambique and China.

Bilateral relations between the two countries date back at the time when Mozambique was fighting against the Portuguese colonialism between the 1960s and 1970s, until independence in 1975.

Currently, China is among Mozambique's international partners, holding the third position in the list of foreign countries who invest in the former Portuguese colony, after South Africa and Portugal.