President Xi Jinping congratulated Ram Chandra Poudel on Tuesday on taking office as Nepal's president, and said he is willing to work with Poudel to further promote bilateral relations.

In his congratulatory message to Poudel, Xi said that China and Nepal are friendly neighbors who share mountains and waters. Since the two nations established diplomatic ties in 1955, bilateral relations have maintained healthy and stable development, setting an example of how big and small countries can coexist peacefully and help each other in a friendly manner, he said.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of relations with Nepal, Xi said he stands ready to work with Poudel to carry forward the countries' traditional friendship, consolidate mutual political trust, promote high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation, expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and advance the steady growth of the strategic partnership of cooperation, featuring everlasting friendship for development and prosperity.

Poudel, 78, a veteran leader of the Nepali Congress party and former speaker of the House of Representatives, was elected as the third president of Nepal on Thursday. He started his five-year term on Monday, a day after his predecessor, Bidya Devi Bhandari, retired.