BEIJING - President Xi Jinping Friday sent a message to Nigeria's former military strongman Muhammadu Buhari to congratulate him on his election as the new head of state of Nigeria.

As 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of strategic partnership between China and Nigeria, in-depth development of bilateral relations meets the fundamental interests of both countries and both peoples, Xi said in the message.

China highly values the development of its ties with Nigeria and stands ready to make concerted efforts with the Nigerian side to keep promoting the strategic partnership between the two countries to new heights, Xi added.

Buhari, a former military ruler emerged winner of the Feb 28 election after polling 15.4 million votes to outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan's 13.3 million.

Representing the All Progressive Congress (APC) party, Buhari has become the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Nigeria.