ISTANBUL

China on Wednesday said it is "ready" to work with Costa Rica’s new President Laura Fernandez Delgado.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian extended congratulations to Delgado, saying, “Costa Rica is an important country in Central America.”

"Over the past 18 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Costa Rica have enjoyed steady development of electoral ties and made steady progress on exchange and cooperation in various fields,” Lin told reporters in Beijing.

The two sides established formal diplomatic ties in 2007 and signed a free trade agreement in 2010.

Delgado, a conservative from the ruling Sovereign People’s Party, won Costa Rica’s presidential election on Sunday.

Lin said Beijing is ready to “work with (the) new government of Costa Rica to act in the fundamental interest of the two peoples, promote practical cooperation in various fields and enrich the China-Costa Rica strategic partnership.”