The passing of former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is "a loss for both China and the United States", the Chinese embassy in Washington said on Saturday.

In condolences sent to the family of Brzezinski, who died in Virginia on Friday at the age of 89, the Chinese embassy calls the late statesman "an accomplished strategist and diplomat, and a longtime friend of the Chinese people".

"He made an important contribution to the forging of diplomatic ties between China and the US, and had been a staunch supporter and active promoter of China-US relations throughout his career," the embassy said in a statement.

In May 1978, Brzezinski, who was then-president Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, paid his first visit to China to lay the groundwork for the normalization of the relationship between Beijing and Washington, an event that he recalled in 2009 in an interview with Xinhua: "We gave it a strategic significance which I think contributed to greater international stability."

The Chinese embassy said that maintaining and developing a healthy and stable China-US relationship is in the interest of both the Chinese and the US people, and the international community as well.

"With the joint efforts of both sides, we hope to honor Dr Brzezinski through continued cooperation between China and the United States," the statement read.

The death of Brzezinski was announced by his daughter, Mika Brzezinski, on her Twitter account. She said, "I just knew him as the most inspiring, loving and devoted father any girl could ever have."

In an obituary, The New York Times said Brzezinski, like his predecessor Henry Kissinger, was a foreign-born scholar (Brzezinski in Poland, Kissinger in Germany) with considerable influence in global affairs, both before and long after his official tour of duty in the White House.

Following the death of the ex-national security adviser, Carter said, "He was inquisitive, innovative and a natural choice as my national security adviser when I became president."

"He helped me set vital foreign policy goals ... He played an essential role in all the key foreign policy events of my administration," Carter said in a statement.

In a tweet posted on Saturday, former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright said, "Many knew Dr Zbigniew Brzezinski as a brilliant strategist. I knew him as my professor, mentor, and dear friend. I will miss you Zbig."

zhaohuanxin@chinadaily.com.cn