BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping and Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Tuesday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Xi said that Finland is the beautiful "land of a thousand lakes" and one of the first European countries to sign an intergovernmental trade agreement with China.

Over the 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China-Finland relations have transcended differences in social system and ideology, and stood the test of changes in the international landscape, with cooperation in political, economic, trade, people-to-people, cultural, and other fields being steadily deepened, he said.

Xi said that Stubb successfully paid a state visit to China last October, during which they drew together a blueprint for the growth of the future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between China and Finland.

Xi said he attaches great importance to the growth of China-Finland relations, and stands ready to work with Stubb to carry forward their traditional friendship, break new ground in bilateral cooperation across the board, and advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.