Newly-elected Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday told his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa over phone that China supports his country's efforts to protect its national sovereignty, and would continue to offer assistance.

During their telephone conversation, Rajapaksa congratulated Xi on his election as Chinese president, and said the two countries are close friends. The Sri Lankan people appreciate China's assistance to help the country promote peace, stability and development.

Rajapaksa added that Sri Lanka would continue to firmly support China on issues concerning its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Xi, for his part, thanked Rajapaksa for his congratulations. He said China and Sri Lanka are friendly neighbors. For many years, bilateral ties have maintained a healthy and stable development momentum, with fruitful cooperation in all sectors.

Xi also thanked the Sri Lankan president for the country's long-term support on issues regarding China's core interests, and said China highly values the development of its relations with Sri Lanka.

China firmly supports Sri Lanka's efforts to protect its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and would like to continue to provide assistance to Sri Lanka within China's capacity, said the Chinese president.

Xi said that he hopes the two countries will make concerted efforts to promote their comprehensive relations of cooperation and partnership to even higher levels.

Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was elected state president and chairman of China's Central Military Commission Thursday at the plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).