On June 4th, Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, President of Iceland, met at the President’s Residence with You Quan, Member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.

You conveyed President Xi Jinping's warm greetings to Jóhannesson. He said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Iceland, bilateral relations have been developing steadily. In particular, in recent years, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges, and the China-Iceland free trade agreement has played an increasingly important role in promoting economic and trade cooperation. Bilateral exchanges and cooperation in energy, people-to-people exchanges and Arctic affairs have made new progress. On the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, China is ready to further deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, strengthen communication in international and regional affairs and push bilateral relations to a new level. China is also ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in culture and civilization between the two countries.

Jóhannesson asked You to convey his best wishes to President Xi. He said the Icelandic side appreciates the great achievements made in various fields since the founding of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago, attaches great importance to the traditional friendly relations between the two countries and is willing to work with China to further strengthen exchanges at all levels, deepen cooperation in economy, trade, energy, people-to-people exchanges and Arctic affairs and push forward the in-depth development of bilateral relations for the common benefit of the two peoples. The Chinese civilization has a long history and Iceland is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between the two sides.

At the invitation of the Icelandic government, You led a CPC delegation to visit Iceland from June 2nd to 5th. During his stay in Iceland, You met on separate occasions with Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland and Sturla Sigurjonsson, Permanent Secretary of State of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland as well as visited a geothermal power plant and religious venues in Iceland.

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