BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday exchanged congratulatory messages with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Rafael Correa, on the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between their two countries.

In his message, Xi said China-Ecuador relations have witnessed smooth development over the past 35 years, and that after Correa took office, bilateral ties embarked on an accelerated pace thanks to concerted efforts by both sides.

Contacts at various levels have become closer between the two countries, with their pragmatic cooperation continuously deepening and people-to-people exchanges constantly expanding, he said.

Xi recalled his meeting with Correa last July in Brasilia, Brazil, where they exchanged views and reached important consensus on deepening China-Ecuador cooperation in various fields, as well as promoting bilateral ties, whose development he said is in the fundamental interest of the two countries and the two peoples.

"I attach great importance to the development of China-Ecuador relations," said the Chinese president.

"Taking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity, I am willing to make concerted efforts with you to continually promote our two countries' relations to a new stage," he added.

Correa said in his message that the decision on the establishment of diplomatic ties, made by Ecuadorian and Chinese leaders in the early 1980s, fully embodied the two countries' fundamental interests.

Over the past three decades and a half, especially in recent years, Ecuador and China have kept deepening political relations and broadening trade and economic exchanges, and held similar positions on important international issues, he said.

He expressed his belief that the two countries, from a strategic height, will jointly lift bilateral relations to a new level.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Ricardo Patino, also exchanged congratulatory messages on the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.