President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message on Friday to Peter Mutharika on his election as president of Malawi, reaffirming China's commitment to advancing strategic partnership with the southern African nation.

In the message, Xi highlighted the sincere friendship and mutual support that characterize the relationship between China and Malawi, describing them as good friends and partners.

Noting significant contributions made by Mutharika to the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 2007, Xi said that since then, the China-Malawi relationship has developed steadily and smoothly.

The two countries have continuously deepened their political mutual trust and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation, he noted, adding that they have also supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns.

Xi expressed his willingness to work with Mutharika to strengthen support and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries to advance the China-Malawi strategic partnership and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Mutharika, 85, who previously served as president of Malawi from 2014 to 2020, was declared the winner of the African country's Sept 16 presidential election on Wednesday.

He secured nearly 3.04 million votes, or 56.8 percent of the valid ballots cast, according to the Malawi Electoral Commission. Incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera came in second with around 1.77 million votes, representing 33 percent of the total.

jihaisheng@chinadaily.com.cn