China respects the choice of Montenegrin people and respects the final results of the referendum, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao in Beijing on Thursday.

The Republican Referendum Commission officially confirmed on Wednesday the final results of the referendum held on May 21. A total of 55.5 percent, or 230,661, people voted for Montenegro's independence, with a turnout rate of 86.5 percent, or 419,240 voters.

Under conditions mediated by the European Union, the independence was to be valid if at least 55 percent of voters with a turnout of half or more of the mountainous republic's 484,718 registered voters supported independence.

Liu Jianchao said that China has noticed the smooth pass of the referendum, and China hopes that Serbia and Montenegro will properly handle their relations through friendly consultations.

China and Montenegro always enjoy sound cooperative relations, Liu said, believing that such relations would be further promoted on the new basis.

Serbia-Montenegro, which was renamed from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in February 2003, is a loose union with only limited ministries of foreign affairs, defense and human rights. The two republics have different laws, customs, currencies and border services.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2006)