BEIJING, Jan. 26 -- China congratulated Greece's left-wing SYRIZA party on its success at the general elections on Monday, expressing willingness to advance bilateral ties with the new government.

China and Greece have enjoyed a traditional friendship and China attaches great importance to bilateral ties, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing.

She said China was willing to work with Greece to deepen exchange and cooperation in all fields and advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

SYRIZA celebrated a "historic victory" as the partial results of Sunday's election showed the party was in the lead by a comfortable margin.

With 80 percent of ballots counted, the anti-austerity SYRIZA party won about 36 percent of votes, against 28 percent for its major rival, the conservative New Democracy (ND) party of outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, according to official results released by the Interior Ministry.

The current winning margin makes it almost certain that SYRIZA will win, the first left party to hold power in Greece since the end of WWII.