BEIJING, Feb. 11 -- China on Tuesday sent congratulations to Nepal's newly-elected Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.

"The Chinese side congratulates Mr. Sushil Koirala on being elected as Nepal's new prime minister, and (Chinese) Premier Li Keqiang has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Koirala," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing.

Hua said China and Nepal are friendly neighbors and that the Chinese side attaches great importance to the development of an all-round cooperative partnership with Nepal.

"The Chinese side stands ready to make joint efforts with the Nepali side to strengthen traditional friendship and deepen reciprocal cooperation to step up the bilateral relationship in a sustained way," said the spokeswoman.

Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress (NC), the largest party in the country, was elected prime minister by Nepal's parliament on Monday, nearly three months after the national election in November last year.