China congratulates Maduro on election win

BEIJING - China on Monday congratulated Nicolas Maduro on his victory in Venezuela's presidential election.

Maduro, Venezuela's acting president, narrowly won Sunday's election with 50.66 percent of the votes, according to official figures.

"We have noticed the results of the Venezuelan presidential election. We respect the choice of the Venezuelan people and congratulate Maduro on winning the election," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing Monday afternoon.

Hua said bilateral relations have been growing since China and Venezuela established diplomatic relations 39 years ago, especially since the two countries formed a strategic partnership in 2001.

"We are ready to work with the Venezuelan side to continue to push forward friendly and cooperative relations so as to better benefit the people of the two countries," Hua said.

She also expressed the wish that Venezuela will continue to maintain stability and growth of the country.

Maduro, born on Nov 23, 1962 in Caracas to a lower middle-class family, took over as the country's interim president following the death of President Hugo Chavez from cancer in March.