BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that China stands ready to continue to provide as much support as its capacity allows for Colombia's combat against the COVID-19 pandemic and carry out vaccine cooperation with the country.

In a phone conversation with Colombian President Ivan Duque, Xi pointed out that China-Colombia relations have maintained steady and sound development in recent years, and bilateral practical cooperation has been continuously optimized and upgraded.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, Xi noted, the two sides have extended sympathy and support for each other, demonstrating their profound friendship featuring mutual support and solidarity in overcoming difficulties.

He stressed that as China actively fosters a new development paradigm, it will provide new cooperation opportunities for Colombia, and China is willing to work with the Colombian side to push for greater development of bilateral ties.

The two sides, Xi suggested, should continue to support each other, and better synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and the Colombia-China Initiative.

While deepening traditional cooperation in energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and other areas, they should also actively expand cooperation in such new fields as agriculture, husbandry, new energy, digital economy and creative industries, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in culture, education and sports as well as at local levels, he added.

China, Xi said, will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Colombia, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Colombia within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations.

Duque, for his part, extended Spring Festival greetings to the Chinese people and wished them a happy Lantern Festival.

Noting that the year 2020 marked the 40th anniversary of Colombia-China diplomatic relations, he said he is glad to see the sound development of bilateral ties, especially the fruitful results in the two countries' trade and economic cooperation.

Colombia welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in the country, he said, adding that his country hopes to work with China to blueprint the development of their ties for the next 40 years, deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and economy, science and technology, culture and sports, and push for more results in bilateral relations.

Duque expressed gratitude to China for its valuable support for Colombia's combat against the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for China's provision of vaccines, which he stressed will help save numerous precious lives.

That has demonstrated the profound friendship and high-level mutual trust between Colombia and China, he said, adding that Colombia looks forward to continuing to strengthen vaccine cooperation with China.