Chinese President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages with his Maldivian counterpart Mohamed Waheed to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"China-Maldives relations have become the model of friendship between a big country and a small one," Hu said in his message to Waheed.
"China stands ready to work with Maldives to promote the friendship between the two nations to a higher level," Hu said.
For his part, Waheed who was here recently on a state visit said Maldives highly values the profound traditional friendship with China, and remains grateful for China's assistance to its development.
China started firming up its ties with Maldives by opening its embassy in Male recently, as it expanded its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean region, including Sri Lanka.
Besides stepping up investments, Chinese tourists to Maldives have overtaken those from the Europe emerging as main stay of the island