Chinese and Afghan leaders exchanged congratulatory messages Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, Chinese President Hu Jintao said bilateral ties have withstood the test of changes in international and both countries' domestic arenas and achieved constant development.

Following the establishment of the new government in Afghanistan, exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in political and economic areas quickly recovered and expanded, steering Sino-Afghan relations into a new stage of development, hesaid.

Hu said China and Afghanistan are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers and that consolidating and advancing friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with Afghanistan is China's set policy.

The Chinese government and people will continue supporting the peace process in Afghanistan, take an active part in its post-war reconstruction and work together with the Afghan government and people to push Sino-Afghan relations to a new high in the new century.

Karzai, for his part, said Afghan-Chinese friendship has all along been based on good-neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and mutual respect, and expressed hope that such friendly ties will be further deepened and expanded.

Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also exchanged congratulatory messages with their Afghan counterparts, Vice Presidents Zia Masood and Abdul Karim Khalili, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Source: Xinhua