Vice President Xi Jinping met with visiting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny in Beijing on Monday, vowing closer China-Ireland as well as China-Europe relations.

Xi recalled his latest trip to Ireland in February, saying he felt during his tour that the two countries were highly complementary in many areas such as technology, market and human resources, thus both sides enjoy great potential for expanding cooperation.

China and Ireland respect and trust each other despite differences in their systems and national conditions, and have set an example for friendly relations between countries with different cultures and systems, he said.

The development of China-Ireland relations can serve as a driving force in boosting China-Europe ties, Xi added.

The Chinese vice president expressed his hope that both countries will continue to respect and support each other on major issues concerning respective core interests, and achieve greater progress in developing their ties.

Kenny, who is on a five-day China visit, called Xi's visit to Ireland a "complete success" which strongly boosted bilateral relations.

He said the main purpose of his current trip is to implement the consensus on deepening bilateral cooperation reached by Xi and Irish leaders during Xi's visit, and further boost Ireland-China as well as Europe-China ties up to a new stage.

Kenny arrived in Shanghai Sunday afternoon to kick off his current China visit.

During his stay in Shanghai, he met with Shanghai's mayor Han Zheng and visited an Irish corporation. He said he hoped to explore more opportunities for closer cooperation between Irish and Chinese enterprises.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2012)