His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has consented to send a congratulatory message to Mr Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between both nations.

His Majesty said in the congratulatory message that Brunei and the China have enjoyed a long-standing relationship due to the deep-rooted historical ties that exist between both nations. This friendly relationship Brunei enjoys with China has thrived and spanned a wide spectrum in the enhancement of people-to-people relations.

The stronger cooperation between Brunei and China has many benefits and His Majesty places his hopes to continuously work with Mr Hu in improving the peaceful co-existence and progress of both countries, as well as the region as a whole. In view of this, His Majesty expressed his gratitude on the personal contribution by Mr Hu in strengthening this valuable bond.

His Majesty also congratulated Mr Hu and the people of China on the anniversary.

Meanwhile, HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah in a message to Mr Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, sent his best wishes to Mr Yang Jiechi and the people of China on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries.

HRH appreciated the close friendship and cooperation people from both countries have shared over the past 20 years and the assistance the Mr Yang Jiechi has given to Brunei in renewing the much-valued historical links with "your great country".

"We have especially enjoyed the activities held to commemorate the Brunei-China friendship year and thank your people most warmly for the wonderful hospitality they have constantly given us whenever we visit them.

"It has been a pleasure working with you and your colleagues in building an extremely important relationship of shared principles and common purpose," said HRH Prince Mohamed.

HRH also congratulated his counterpart in China on the 62nd Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic and said that the Prince appreciated working with his Chinese counterpart to continue strengthening the much-valued relations both share economically, socially and politically and looked forward to continuing to deepen the goodwill, friendship and cooperation shared by the people. - Borneo Bulletin (29th September 2011)