On August 16, 2011, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, exchanged congratulatory messages to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Hu said the bilateral relations over past 40 years have remained healthy and stable and that the two sides have had frequent contacts at different levels. Cooperation in various fields including economy, trade, energy, humanities and multilateral affairs has yielded remarkable results, and the two nations' friendship has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, Hu said. Both China and Iran are developing countries and bilateral cooperation has tremendous potential, said the Chinese leader. To further consolidate and develop China-Iran relationship is not only in line with the fundamental interests and common wishes of the two peoples, but also conducive to world and regional peace and development, Hu added. Hu said the Chinese side attaches great importance to China-Iran relations and will seize the opportunity of the 40th anniversary to work with Iran to strengthen friendly exchanges, promote pragmatic cooperation and cement bilateral friendship so as to continuously push forward and deepen bilateral friendly cooperative relations.

In his message, Ahmadinejad said both Iran and China are countries with ancient civilizations, and their friendly relations can be dated back to the first century BC. In the historical changes, Iran-China relations have maintained a good momentum with remarkable progress in political, economic, trade and cultural areas. He said he believes that under the guidance of the leaders of both countries, the bilateral relationship will develop into a more comprehensive and in-depth one and will have a splendid future.

On the same day, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, also exchanged congratulatory messages.