China, Costa Rica pledge to deepen cooperative ties

China was ready to work with Costa Rica to advance their friendly and mutually beneficial cooperative ties, a senior Chinese official said here on Friday.

Zhang Gaoli, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and party chief of the city of Tianjin, was speaking during a meeting here with Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla.

He spoke highly of the friendly relations between the two countries, saying that, since the two countries forged diplomatic relations in June 2007, bilateral ties had witnessed healthy and stable development.

The two sides had maintained frequent high-level visits, with deepening mutual political trust and fast development in trade and economic cooperation. China and Costa Rica had achieved fruitful cooperation in such areas as culture, education and technology, and maintained good communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, he said.

Chinchilla warmly welcomed the Chinese delegation headed by Zhang, saying Costa Rica attached great importance to the development of relations with China. She hoped to visit China as soon as possible to further promote and strengthen communication and cooperation between the two countries in such areas as politics, the economy, technology and culture.

The two sides also signed few cooperation agreements during Zhang's visit.

Zhang arrived in Costa Rica on Thursday at the invitation of the Costa Rican government and the country's National Liberation Party. He will also visit Guyana, Suriname and Barbados.