Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends a welcome ceremony held by his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein in Naypyitaw

On June 3, 2010, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein attended the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of China-Myanmar diplomatic ties in Naypyitaw.

Wen said in a speech that China and Myanmar as friendly neighbors are linked by mountains and rivers and have had more than 1,000 years of friendly exchanges. The two countries have supported each other in the struggle for national independence and emancipation and in the fight against foreign aggression, said Wen. The two countries also jointly proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which has become the universally recognized norms governing state-to-state exchanges. During the past 60 years, the China-Myanmar good-neighborly and friendly cooperation has stood the test of changes in the international situation and thrived, Wen said.

Reviewing the past, Wen pointed out that China-Myanmar friendly relations embody painstaking efforts of generations of people of the two countries and are worth cherishing. Calling the endeavor to carry forward bilateral friendship as a strong driving force and an inexhaustible source for development of bilateral ties, Wen said that it conforms to the common aspiration and the fundamental interests of the two peoples and is firmly supported by both peoples.

China-Myanmar relations now stand at a new starting point and have a bright future, said Wen. He expressed the hope that Myanmar people could make new achievements on the path of building up their country. The Chinese people will always be a good neighbor, good friend and good partner to the Myanmar people, said Wen. Bilateral ties will definitely keep moving forward on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the Pauk-phaw friendship deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples will last from generation to generation, Wen said.

Thein Sein, for his part, hailed the traditional friendship between the two countries, saying that the two countries have established long-term and close friendly relations based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. He said Premier Wen's current visit on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties is of great significance in the history of bilateral ties. The Myanmar prime minister said a series of celebrations will hopefully promote Myanmar-China relations of good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation and enable the traditional Pauk-phaw friendship between both peoples to last from generation to generation.

Artists from China and Myanmar gave wonderful performances and the celebrations were held in a cordial, friendly and warm atmosphere.

On the same day, Wen and Thein Sein took part in a handover ceremony for an international conference center, which was constructed with Chinese aid.