The establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Costa Rica marks a brand-new stage in the development of bilateral relations, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Thursday.

Jiang told a regular press briefing the move is in the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and helps further expand bilateral mutually-beneficial cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, culture, education and technology. China is now preparing to establish embassy in Costa Rica, Jiang said.

"We welcome President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and other high-ranking officials to visit China," Jiang said, adding China is ready to strengthen mutually-beneficial cooperation with the country in diversified fields.

Responding to a question that China still has no diplomatic links with some central American and Latin American countries, Jiang said China would like to set up and develop normal state relations with all the countries that have no diplomatic ties with China.

"Taiwan issue is the only obstacle for China and these countries to develop relations," the spokeswoman said, calling on those countries to make correct choice.

Costa Rica is the 169th country to establish diplomatic relations with China. Jiang said China's diplomatic links with these countries are not based on "dollar diplomacy". An increasing number of countries have set up diplomatic ties with China, which fully demonstrates that the one-China principle is widely accepted by the international community, she said.

China and Costa Rica announced on Thursday that they had agreed to establish diplomatic ties after the Latin American country agreed to break official relations with Taiwan.

Source: Xinhua