NEW YORK, Sept. 25 -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Thursday that China is ready to work with Cyprus to continue to expand the scale and optimize the structure of bilateral trade, and explore the potential for cooperation in emerging fields.

Li made the remarks in his meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on the sidelines of the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Despite that China and Cyprus are geographically distant, their friendly exchanges have a long history, Li said.

Next year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and the fifth anniversary of their strategic partnership, ushering in new opportunities for the further deepening and development of bilateral cooperation, he said.

Li pledged China's readiness to work with Cyprus to carry forward their traditional friendship, strengthen high-level exchanges, uphold mutual respect, mutual trust, openness and cooperation, and push bilateral relations to new heights, so as to achieve more practical outcomes and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Noting that China understands and supports Cyprus in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, Li said his country appreciates Cyprus for adhering to the one-China principle.

China is willing to work with Cyprus to further align their development strategies, and better leverage mechanisms such as the joint economic and trade committee, Li said.

He also expressed China's readiness to deepen and solidify cooperation in shipping, tap the potential for cooperation in emerging fields such as clean energy, as well as enhance exchanges in education, culture, youth and on local levels, so as to better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

China is willing to import more high-quality agricultural and food products from Cyprus, Li said, urging the Cypriot side to continue to foster a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment, and provide more policy support for business cooperation between the two countries.

Noting that the current international situation is marked by changes and turbulence, Li said China is willing to work closely with Cyprus in multilateral coordination, jointly practice true multilateralism, safeguard and promote free trade, and push for a more just and equitable global governance system.

China welcomes the Cypriot side to actively participate in the Global Governance Initiative, he said.

Li also expressed hope that Cyprus will continue to play a significant role in promoting the European Union (EU) to adhere to a rational and practical policy toward China, and in maintaining the right direction of the development of China-EU relations.

For his part, Christodoulides said that Cyprus-China relations are founded on mutual understanding and mutual support. Cyprus firmly adheres to the one-China policy and highly values the strategic partnership between the two countries, he said.

Cyprus looks forward to enhancing high-level exchanges with China, consolidating bilateral friendship and mutual trust, deepening cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, investment, agriculture and sports, and strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges, he said.

The president said Cyprus will assume the rotating presidency of the EU in the first half of next year and will actively promote dialogue and cooperation between the EU and China.

Cyprus is willing to strengthen multilateral coordination with China, uphold the authority of the UN Charter and international law, defend multilateralism, and jointly address challenges, he added.