On October 24, 2008, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met at the Great Hall of the People with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, who is here for the seventh summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

During the meeting, Xi described the two countries as "all-weather friends and partners," and said both sides have always shown understanding and support for each other with closer exchanges at all levels. The two countries have built up political trust and yielded new outcome in economic, trade and humanities exchanges.

Xi said that the Chinese government cherishes the traditional friendship with Cyprus and is ready to work with it to strengthen the political foundation of bilateral relations and promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields. China would work with Cyprus to expand trade and economic cooperation and improve the trade exchange mechanism with a pioneering and innovative spirit. He called for concerted efforts to build platforms for companies of both countries to increase cooperation, address the trade imbalance between the two countries, promote mutual investment and well implement bilateral cooperation projects. "The Chinese side encouraged domestic enterprises to participate in infrastructure projects in Cyprus, such as construction of ports, roads and telecommunication facilities," he said, adding that China also welcomes enterprises of Cyprus to invest in China. He also hoped that both sides will enhance tourism cooperation and push the ties to a new level.

The Cypriot president said the two countries have kept friendly relations and the Cypriot people deem the Chinese people a sincere friend. He also spoke highly of increasing political trust and smooth cooperation in all areas. Cyprus appreciated China's role in international affairs as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, he said. The Cypriot president said Cyprus wished to deepen the long-standing friendship between the two countries, tap cooperation potential and widen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, culture and tourism in a bid to push for sustained, healthy development of the ties.