Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message Wednesday to William Samoei Ruto on his election as Kenyan president.

Xi pointed out that China and Kenya enjoy a time-honored friendship, and that their cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results in recent years.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Kenya relations, Xi said he is willing to make joint efforts with Ruto to push forward the development of China-Kenya comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, so as to benefit the two countries and peoples.