Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy Li Ganjie (L), also minister of ecology and environment, meets with Uruguay's new President Luis Lacalle Pou in Montevideo, Uruguay, on March 2, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

MONTEVIDEO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy Li Ganjie, also minister of ecology and environment, on Monday met with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou after attending the Uruguayan presidency handover ceremony here on Sunday.

Li conveyed Xi's congratulations and good wishes to Lacalle Pou and handed over a letter signed by the Chinese president.

Noting that China and Uruguay are good friends and partners who trust each other, Li said China stands ready to work with Uruguay to strengthen mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation in various fields so as to promote the bilateral strategic partnership to a new level.

For his part, Lacalle Pou thanked Xi for sending a special envoy to attend the ceremony, and asked Li to convey his greetings to Xi.

He said China is Uruguay's largest trading partner, and developing relations with China is the priority of Uruguay's diplomacy.

Lacalle Pou noted that Uruguay is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges between the two countries and continue to deepen practical cooperation in various fields such as trade and investment.

He extended sincere sympathies and support to the Chinese people in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, and expressed his confidence that under the strong leadership of Xi, China will achieve a complete victory over the epidemic at an early date.