The Chinese president said that China and Pakistan’s friendship was a choice of history and a precious treasure of the two peoples, state-run Xinhua reported.

President Jinping said that he was ready to work with Zardari to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries and advance cooperation in various fields, push for greater development of China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

He mentioned that the two countries maintained close high-level exchanges in recent years, supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, and achieved fruitful results in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Read: Arif Alvi signs off with last X post as president of Pakistan

The world, Xi said, is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century, and the strategic significance of China-Pakistan relations has become more prominent.

A day earlier, Zardari was elected as Pakistan’s new president by securing 411 votes, as against the 181 received by the opposition-backed candidate Mahmood Achakzai.

This will be Zardari’s second term as the country’s president, having earlier served in the role from 2008 to 2013.