BEIJING - President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to his Sri Lanka counterpart Maithripala Sirisena to mark the 67th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

In the message, Xi said China and Sri Lanka are traditional friendly neighbors, and relations between the two countries have remained unshakable and become even firmer as time goes by, as the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in various areas has brought about important interests to the two peoples.

Recalling his successful state visit to Sri Lanka in September 2014, Xi said he was deeply touched by the Sri Lankan people's profound sentiments and friendship toward Chinese people.

China attaches great importance to its ties with Sri Lanka and stands ready to work with the South Asian country to promote powerful development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries featuring sincere mutual assistance and friendship from generation to generation, said the Chinese president.