Chinese President Hu Jintao and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki exchanged messages Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

In his message, Hu said China and South Africa have witnessed an all-round, rapid development in their relations since they forged diplomatic ties 10 years ago.

The Chinese government and people value the friendship between the two countries and always look at bilateral relations from an overall strategic perspective, Hu said.

To continuously consolidate and strengthen Sino-South African relations is not only in the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also conducive to solidarity and cooperation between the two countries, he added.

"I am willing to work with you to deepen the traditional friendship between our two nations, enhance an all-round and pragmatic cooperation, and continuously push forward the Sino-South African ties to new heights," said the Chinese president.

Mbeki said in his message that bilateral exchanges and cooperation, with unremitting efforts from both sides, have made rapid and huge progress over the past 10 years, and bilateral tieshave developed into a mutually-beneficial strategic partnership.

Mbeki said South Africa is willing to make concerted efforts with China to strengthen cooperation in bilateral and multilateral areas within the framework of a bilateral committee of the two countries.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma also swapped greetings on the occasion.

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2008)