Xi commends next leaders of Mexico and Iceland

President Xi Jinping has congratulated Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor, on her election as Mexico's president, saying he is ready to work with the president-elect to boost bilateral ties.

In a congratulatory message sent to Sheinbaum on Tuesday, Xi noted that Mexico is a major country in Latin America and an important emerging market.

Calling China and Mexico comprehensive strategic partners, he said that bilateral relations have maintained sound development, with their strategic, complementary and mutually beneficial nature becoming increasingly evident.

The China-Mexico relationship is at an important juncture of carrying on the past and ushering in the future, Xi said.

Saying that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Mexico relations, Xi expressed his willingness to strengthen strategic communication with Sheinbaum to guide the development of bilateral ties to new heights and better benefit the people of the two countries.

Sheinbaum, 61, won Sunday's presidential election as the candidate of the Let's Keep Making History coalition. She will become Mexico's first female president in more than 200 years of independence.

Xi also sent a congratulatory message on Tuesday to Halla Tomasdottir on her election as president of Iceland.

Xi said in the message that in recent years, China-Iceland relations have maintained good development momentum.

Cooperation in fields such as trade and investment, geothermal energy and environmental protection, culture and tourism has steadily progressed, with new achievements, he said.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Iceland relations, Xi said he is willing to work with Tomasdottir to deepen political mutual trust between the two countries, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote China-Iceland relations to a new level.

Tomasdottir, 55, a businesswoman and investor, led her opponents with 34.3 percent of the vote during the election, which started on Saturday, followed by former prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, who came in second with 25.2 percent, data from Icelandic national broadcaster RUV showed on Sunday.