BEIJING, Feb. 4 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday sent a message to his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe to express his congratulation on the 67th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

In his congratulatory message, Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka in 1957, bilateral ties have always undergone healthy and stable development, turning out to be a paradigm for friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between neighboring countries.

The Chinese side attaches great importance to its ties with Sri Lanka and stands ready to work with Sri Lanka in deepening the traditional friendship and expanding pragmatic cooperation, to prompt the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership to keep developing to higher levels in the interest of the two peoples.