China to continue developing strategic partnership with Ecuador: special envoy

QUITO, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government's Special Envoy Chen Lei said Saturday that his country is willing to further develop bilateral strategic partnership with Ecuador during a meeting with Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricardo Patino in Quito, the capital city of the South American country.

Chen, also the minister of water resources, was here to attend Friday's inauguration ceremony of Ecuadorian President Rafeal Correa at the invitation of the Ecuadorian government.

Chen congratulated on the president's inauguration and conveyed the best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to developing ties with Ecuador and is willing to further strengthen friendly relations and to consolidate communication and cooperation in international affairs.

For his part, Patino thanked China for sending a special envoy to attend Correa's swearing-in ceremony and spoke highly of the new progress in bilateral ties, adding that Ecuador is ready to enhance bilateral cooperation and further promote friendly exchanges between the two countries.

The two sides reached a consensus in further strengthening strategic cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, finance, energy, telecommunications, infrastructure and water resources.

Ecuadorian Coordinating Minister of Strategic Sectors Rafael Poveda, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Esteban Albornoz, and Chinese Ambassador to Ecuador Wang Shixiong also attended the meeting.