BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sent a congratulatory message to Catherine Connolly on her assumption of the presidency of Ireland.

Over the past 46 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ireland, the two countries have jointly achieved remarkable development progress through mutual learning and friendly cooperation, Xi said in the message.

In recent years, the two countries have seen close exchanges at various levels, yielding fruitful results in practical cooperation, he said.

Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Ireland relations, and stands ready to work with Connolly to enhance political mutual trust, carry forward the traditional friendship, jointly support multilateralism and free trade and promote the continuous development of the China-Ireland mutually beneficial strategic partnership to better benefit the two peoples.