Chinese President Jiang Zemin has sent a message of congratulation to Vojislav Kostunica on his election as President of the Yugoslav Federation.

The change of the state leader of Yugoslavia is an internal affair of the country. China respects the choice of the Yugoslavian people and the results of the presidential election. We are glad to see that the relevant parties of Yugoslavia have taken into consideration the fundamental interests of the country and the Yugoslavian people, and handled problems arising from the political situation in Yugoslavia appropriately. China sincerely wishes that the new leadership of Yugoslavia will lead all ethnic groups in Yugoslavia to realize political stability, restore economic development and return to the international community. China and Yugoslavia and the two peoples enjoy the traditional, friendly and cooperative relations, which are based on principles of complete equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs and are in the fundamental interests of the two peoples. We believe that the change of situation in Yugoslavia will not affect the healthy development of China-Yugoslavia relations and the Sino-Yugoslavian relations will have bright prospects. China highly values its relations with Yugoslavia and will continue to make efforts for the growth of bilateral relations.