On April 20, 2012, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias met with Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong in Nicosia.

Liu first conveyed the cordial greetings and good wishes of President Hu Jintao. Christofias asked Liu to convey his cordial greetings to President Hu Jintao as well as his good wishes to the Chinese people.

Liu said China and Cyprus have always been good friends and partners with mutual trust. She highly lauded Christofias for his long-time dedication to developing the relationship between the two countries. Liu said since the establishment of diplomatic relationship between China and Cyprus 40 years ago, the two sides have treated each other equally and cooperated closely. Liu said the two countries have respected each other's sovereignty and territory integrity and have conducted fruitful cooperation in areas like economy, trade and cultural exchange based on firm political ties.

Liu said that Cyprus has superior geographic location and distinctive economic growth. China supports the two countries to conduct mutually beneficial cooperation in various forms, and encourages competent enterprises to invest in Cyprus. Liu said that the launching of China-EU high-level people-to-people dialogue will breathe new life into the China-EU and China-Cyprus relations. The Chinese side is willing to work with Cyprus to continue to push mutually beneficial cooperation for sound and rapid development. The two sides should continue to consolidate political mutual trust, keep close personnel exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation and further display the advantages of humanities cooperation in higher education, culture, arts, technological exchanges, health and tourism.

Christofias said the friendship between Cyprus and China has a long history, and China is Cyprus' reliable friend. Christofias highly commented the governing principle of "putting people first and governing for the people" by the Chinese government, wishing China more and bigger achievements on its way to modernization. The president said Cyprus and China have common target which is developing economy and improving people's living standard. He said the future of economic cooperation between the two countries is very bright. Christofias said Cyprus warmly welcomes Chinese entrepreneurs to invest, adding that the Cyprus government is ready to provide necessary facilitation to the Chinese investors. He said cultural exchange is the common aspiration of the two peoples, adding that the agreements signed between the two countries on cultural and people-to-people exchange will greatly promote mutual understanding. Christofias pledged Cyprus will take the opportunity of its European Union presidency in the second half of this year to further deepen the relationship between EU and China.

After the meeting, Liu Yandong and Christofias witnessed the signing of higher education cooperation agreement between the two Ministries of Education. On the same day, Liu also met with Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis and Education Minister George Demosthenous.