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BEIJING, July 3-- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and they decided to lift state-to-state ties to a strategic partnership. Bulgaria was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China, Xi noted, hoping that the two countries take the strategic partnership as a new starting point, work together to cope with the test of international changes and inject new impetus into bilateral cooperation. Xi stressed that the two sides should respect and trust each other and strengthen exchanges between the two governments, legislative bodies and political parties while maintaining mutual support on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns. "The two countries share many of the same or similar views on the international situation and should jointly safeguard the international system based on multilateralism and the international law," said Xi. Bulgaria is also one of the first Central and Eastern European countries to sign intergovernmental cooperation documents with China on the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi said China is willing to strengthen the synergy between the two countries' development strategies, promote infrastructure connectivity, expand trade and investment and cement people-to-people exchanges. Xi reiterated China's firm support for the European integration process, EU's unity and growth and Europe's more important role in international affairs, saying that China's upholding such stances is not an expedient measure. | 
