On November 6, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Iliana Iotova on her election as President of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Xi Jinping pointed out that Bulgaria is the second country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China [on October 4, 1949]. Mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and win-win results constitute the defining feature of bilateral relations. Xi added that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Bulgaria relations, and stands ready to work with President Iliana Iotova to guide the two countries to forge ahead hand in hand on their respective paths of development and revitalisation, foster a more positive, pragmatic and dynamic bilateral relationship, and deliver greater benefits to the two peoples.
Iotova has served as president of Bulgaria since 23 January 2026. A member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP, the principal successor to the former ruling Bulgarian Communist Party), she previously served as vice president under Rumen Radev from 2017 to 2026, when she became the first Bulgarian vice president to assume the presidency intra-term due to Radev’s resignation. Following parliamentary elections, Radev became prime minister on 8 May. And following a first round of presidential elections on 25 October, Iotova secured a clear victory in a second round of voting on 1 November.
The international media widely report the election victories of Iotova and Radev as ones for an independent foreign policy, including constructive relations with Russia and an end to support for NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine.
Deutsche Welle reported: “‘We are choosing between war and peace,’ Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told voters ahead of Sunday’s presidential election runoff between incumbent President Iliana Iotova, who opposes military aid to Ukraine and favours dialogue with Russia, and former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, who is regarded as staunchly pro-European and pro-Ukrainian. With these words, it was clear that Sunday’s runoff had turned into a kind of referendum on the country’s foreign policy and stance on the war in Ukraine. Now that the official results are in and it is clear that Iliana Iotova won the election decisively by 57.6% to Gyurov’s 39.5%, Radev claims that Bulgarians have chosen peace.”
Balkan Insight wrote: “Iotova built her campaign as ‘the President of peace’: she has pledged to offer a more balanced attitude towards Russia and be sceptical about further military aid to Ukraine. She has also called for Bulgaria to be less obedient to the EU.”
For her part, Iotova said her electoral message had focused on “incomes, peace and the challenges that lie ahead”.
Bulgaria was the final stop on Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent regional tour which also took him to Azerbaijan, Croatia and Montenegro.
On October 19, he met with President Iliana Iotova who asked him to convey her sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping, stating that Bulgaria and China have long enjoyed friendly relations, and that Bulgaria was the second country to recognise the People’s Republic of China. In 2019, the two countries established a strategic partnership, and bilateral exchanges have continued to develop on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Bulgaria admires China’s remarkable achievements in artificial intelligence, scientific and technological innovation, environmental protection and the improvement of people’s living standards. Bulgaria will continue to pursue the one-China policy. “Last October,” she noted, “I attended the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in China, where I reached broad consensus with the Chinese side on cooperation for the next stage.” The two sides are stepping up planning for high-level exchanges next year and look forward to bringing bilateral relations to a new level. Bulgaria’s new government has a strong willingness to accelerate cooperation with China, which also enjoys broad public support. Bulgaria looks forward to opening direct flights with China as soon as possible, deepening economic and trade cooperation, and facilitating personnel exchanges and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Bulgaria hopes to expand cooperation in agriculture, science and technology, education and new energy. Bulgaria shares China’s views on the political settlement of conflicts and hopes that China will continue to play an important role in safeguarding world peace and is ready to strengthen coordination with China in this regard.
Wang Yi conveyed President Xi Jinping’s cordial greetings to President Iliana Iotova, and appreciated her, as an old friend of China, for her personal commitment to promoting the development of bilateral relations and enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges and friendly ties between the two peoples. Bulgaria is one of the first countries to recognise the People’s Republic of China, and the two countries have a solid political foundation with growing mutual trust. Despite differences in history, culture and systems, the two sides understand, appreciate, respect and support each other, which has promoted the steady and sound development of bilateral relations and brought benefits to the two peoples. China respects Bulgaria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, supports Bulgaria in accelerating development and revitalisation, and is glad to see Bulgaria play an important role on the international stage. Bulgaria’s new government has demonstrated its ambition to accelerate relations with China, and China is also ready to strengthen communication and expand cooperation with Bulgaria to help each country accelerate development and revitalisation. Relations between states are fundamentally about interactions between people. The two sides should enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual understanding, consolidate the public and social foundation of bilateral relations, and provide greater impetus for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation. The world today is fraught with chaos and instability, and peace and development face unprecedented challenges. China is ready to strengthen multilateral coordination with Bulgaria, bridge differences through dialogue, transcend estrangement through trust, overcome challenges through action, jointly practice multilateralism, and build a community with a shared future for humanity.
On the same day, Wang also met with Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
Radev asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to the Chinese leaders, stating that Bulgaria cherishes its traditional friendship with China and admires China’s tremendous development achievements, and that China is an important stabilising force for safeguarding peace in today’s world. Bulgaria firmly adheres to the one-China principle and will not conduct any official exchanges with Taiwan. Bulgaria-China relations have a long history and bright prospects. Bulgaria warmly welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in the country, and will increase government support, ensure policy stability and provide a sound business environment. Radev stated that historically Western countries actively supported economic globalisation and trade liberalisation and viewed China as somewhat conservative and closed, but today China has become a staunch supporter of globalisation and free trade. Europe has concerns about its trade deficit with China, but Chinese goods with high quality and competitive prices have helped curb inflation in Europe; in reality, neither side can do without the other. Bulgaria-China cooperation on connectivity enjoys good prospects, and Bulgaria is willing to serve as a gateway and bridge connecting Eurasia and linking Europe and China.
Wang Yi conveyed the Chinese leaders’ cordial greetings to Rumen Radev, stating that forging a new future for China-Bulgaria relations requires consolidating the political foundation and deepening political mutual trust so as to create better conditions for bilateral cooperation in various fields. China appreciates Bulgaria’s continued adherence to the one-China policy and its understanding and support for China’s legitimate position of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China and Bulgaria enjoy traditional friendship, with bilateral relations on a solid foundation and having broad prospects; upgrading the positioning of bilateral relations is a natural and logical step. China is ready to deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results with Bulgaria. China will be Bulgaria’s most reliable and long-term strategic partner in its development and revitalisation. The Belt and Road Initiative and the China Railway Express have boosted transcontinental and trans-regional connectivity, and these, together with Europe’s Middle Corridor vision, can complement and reinforce each other, rather than exclude or offset one another. China is ready to strengthen strategic alignment with Bulgaria, support Bulgaria in playing a bridging role in Eurasian connectivity and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win outcomes for China and Bulgaria as well as for China and Europe.
In his meeting with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Poulev, Wang Yi congratulated him on the full success of his visit to China not long ago. He said that it is currently an important period of opportunity for the development of China-Bulgaria relations. Bulgaria’s special geographical position makes it an important bond connecting Asia and Europe, and as an EU member, it can play a positive role in strategic cooperation between China and the EU. China is ready to work with Bulgaria to align the Belt and Road Initiative with the Middle Corridor development.
Poulev said that his visit to China not long ago was a complete success, and the high-level reception by the Chinese side reflects the great importance China attaches to Bulgaria. The new Bulgarian government has the readiness and long-term planning for developing relations with China and is ready to serve as a gateway for Chinese enterprises to enter Europe.
Meeting Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova, Wang Yi said that China-Bulgaria relations are embracing important opportunities, and this visit to Bulgaria is well-timed. The two sides conducted in-depth communication on planning high-level exchanges in the next stage and advancing practical cooperation in various fields, reaching broad consensus. It is necessary to continuously consolidate the political foundation and strengthen communication and coordination, so as to create important conditions for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation. China respects Bulgaria’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, welcomes Bulgaria’s realisation of its development goals at a faster pace under the leadership of the new government, and is ready to be a long-term and trustworthy strategic partner of Bulgaria in this process. China and Europe are partners rather than rivals and are development opportunities rather than challenges for each other. The two sides should respect each other, appreciate each other, make achievements together, and jointly shoulder the international responsibilities for world peace and development.
Velislava Petrova said that Bulgaria and China share a profound traditional friendship and have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in various fields. Bulgaria has long adhered to and will continue to firmly follow the one‑China policy. Actively developing relations with China is the clear direction of the new Bulgarian government. Bulgaria is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in economy and trade, culture, education and other fields, expand cooperation in high‑tech and high value‑added fields, and really looks forward to the early opening of direct flights between the two countries. Bulgaria, located between the East and the West and at the crossroads connecting the European and Asian continents, attaches great importance to connectivity and is ready to find more converging interests with China in this field.
The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
We also embed below the video of the CGTN Leaders Talk interview with Iliana Iotova. It was recorded in Beijing in October 2025, when she was attending the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in her then capacity of vice president, and was broadcast in February 2026 after her assumption of the presidency.
She notes that she first visited China in 1995 to attend the UN World Women’s Conference as a journalist. She expresses admiration for the way in which China has “perfectly blended” modern technology with ancient civilisation and praises the two countries’ cooperation in the field of education and culture, citing as examples the Chinese students learning Bulgarian at the Beijing Foreign Studies University and the work of Confucius Institutes in Bulgaria.
Iotova’s official biography can be read on the website of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Xi Jinping Congratulates Iliana Iotova on Her Election as President of Bulgaria
November 9 (MFA) – On November 6, 2026, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Iliana Iotova on her election as President of the Republic of Bulgaria.
President Xi Jinping pointed out that Bulgaria is the second country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and win-win results constitute the defining feature of bilateral relations. In recent years, exchanges and cooperation between the two countries at all levels and across all fields have moved forward steadily, and the strategic partnership has grown richer in connotation. Xi Jinping said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Bulgaria relations, and stands ready to work with President Iliana Iotova to guide the two countries to forge ahead hand in hand on their respective paths of development and revitalization, foster a more positive, pragmatic and dynamic bilateral relationship, and deliver greater benefits to the two peoples.
Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova Meets with Wang Yi
October 19 (MFA) – On October 19, 2026 local time, Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova met with Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Sofia.
President Iliana Iotova asked Wang Yi to convey her sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping, stating that Bulgaria and China have long enjoyed friendly relations, and that Bulgaria was the second country to recognize the People’s Republic of China. In 2019, the two countries established a strategic partnership, and bilateral exchanges have continued to develop on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Bulgaria admires China’s remarkable achievements in artificial intelligence, scientific and technological innovation, environmental protection and the improvement of people’s living standards. Bulgaria will continue to pursue the one-China policy. Last October, I attended the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in China, where I reached broad consensus with the Chinese side on cooperation for the next stage. Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit is a good opportunity to deepen Bulgaria-China relations and will help enhance communication and coordination and advance future cooperation. The two sides are stepping up planning for high-level exchanges next year and look forward to bringing bilateral relations to a new level. Bulgaria’s new government has a strong willingness to accelerate cooperation with China, which also enjoys broad public support. Bulgaria looks forward to opening direct flights with China as soon as possible, deepening economic and trade cooperation, and facilitating personnel exchanges and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Bulgaria hopes to expand cooperation in agriculture, science and technology, education and new energy. Bulgaria shares China’s views on the political settlement of conflicts and hopes that China will continue to play an important role in safeguarding world peace and is ready to strengthen coordination with China in this regard.
Wang Yi conveyed President Xi Jinping’s cordial greetings to President Iliana Iotova, and appreciated President Iliana Iotova, as an old friend of China, for her personal commitment to promoting the development of bilateral relations and enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges and friendly ties between the two peoples. Bulgaria is one of the first countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China, and the two countries have a solid political foundation with growing mutual trust. Despite differences in history, culture and systems, the two sides understand, appreciate, respect and support each other, which has promoted the steady and sound development of bilateral relations and brought benefits to the two peoples. China respects Bulgaria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, supports Bulgaria in accelerating development and revitalization, and is glad to see Bulgaria play an important role on the international stage. It is hoped that Bulgaria will continue to understand and support China’s legitimate position of safeguarding its core interests and cement the political foundation of bilateral relations.
Wang Yi stated that China-Bulgaria cooperation has a solid foundation, meets practical needs and holds promising prospects and potential. Bulgaria’s new government has demonstrated its ambition to accelerate relations with China, and China is also ready to strengthen communication and expand cooperation with Bulgaria to help each country accelerate development and revitalization. Relations between states are fundamentally about interactions between people. The two sides should enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual understanding, consolidate the public and social foundation of bilateral relations, and provide greater impetus for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation. The world today is fraught with chaos and instability, and peace and development face unprecedented challenges. China is ready to strengthen multilateral coordination with Bulgaria, bridge differences through dialogue, transcend estrangement through trust, overcome challenges through action, jointly practice multilateralism, and build a community with a shared future for humanity.
During the visit, Wang Yi also met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Georgiev Radev and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Poulev, held talks with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova, and jointly met the press with her.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev Meets with Wang Yi
October 20 (MFA) – On October 19, 2026 local time, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev met with Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Sofia.
Rumen Radev asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to the Chinese leaders, stating that Bulgaria cherishes its traditional friendship with China and admires China’s tremendous development achievements, and that China is an important stabilizing force for safeguarding peace in today’s world. Bulgaria firmly adheres to the one-China principle and will not conduct any official exchanges with Taiwan. Bulgaria-China relations have a long history and bright prospects. Bulgaria is ready to further elevate the positioning of bilateral relations and expand cooperation with China across the board, and believes that Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit will inject new impetus into this endeavor. Bulgaria warmly welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in the country, and will increase government support, ensure policy stability and provide a sound business environment.
Rumen Radev stated that historically Western countries actively supported economic globalization and trade liberalization and viewed China as somewhat conservative and closed, but today China has become a staunch supporter of globalization and free trade. Europe has concerns about its trade deficit with China, but Chinese goods with high quality and competitive prices have helped curb inflation in Europe; in reality, neither side can do without the other. Bulgaria-China cooperation on connectivity enjoys good prospects, and Bulgaria is willing to serve as a gateway and bridge connecting Eurasia and linking Europe and China.
Wang Yi conveyed the Chinese leaders’ cordial greetings to Rumen Radev, stating that forging a new future for China-Bulgaria relations requires consolidating the political foundation and deepening political mutual trust so as to create better conditions for bilateral cooperation in various fields. China appreciates Bulgaria’s continued adherence to the one-China policy and its understanding and support for China’s legitimate position of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China and Bulgaria enjoy traditional friendship, with bilateral relations on a solid foundation and having broad prospects; upgrading the positioning of bilateral relations is a natural and logical step. China is ready to deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results with Bulgaria. China will be Bulgaria’s most reliable and long-term strategic partner in its development and revitalization.
Wang Yi stated that China is committed to advancing modernization and building a community with a shared future for humanity together with all countries. We are willing to work with Bulgaria to advocate multilateralism and free trade and promote the democratization of international relations. The Belt and Road Initiative and the China Railway Express have boosted transcontinental and trans-regional connectivity, and these, together with Europe’s Middle Corridor vision, can complement and reinforce each other, rather than exclude or offset one another. China is ready to strengthen strategic alignment with Bulgaria, support Bulgaria in playing a bridging role in Eurasian connectivity, and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win outcomes for China and Bulgaria as well as for China and Europe.
Wang Yi Meets with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Poulev
October 20 (MFA) – On October 19, 2026, local time, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Sofia with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Poulev.
Wang Yi congratulated Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Poulev on the full success of his visit to China not long ago. He said that it is currently an important period of opportunity for the development of China-Bulgaria relations. The two sides should work in the same direction and boost the development and revitalization of both countries with more practical cooperation. China is ready to expand practical cooperation with Bulgaria in finance, investment and other fields, and hopes Bulgaria will optimize its visa policy to create better conditions for facilitating people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. It is believed that with the joint efforts of the two sides, China-Bulgaria relations will surely open a new and more dynamic chapter.
Wang Yi stated that Bulgaria’s special geographical position makes it an important bond connecting Asia and Europe, and as an EU member, it can play a positive role in strategic cooperation between China and the EU. China is ready to work with Bulgaria to align the Belt and Road Initiative with the Middle Corridor development.
Alexander Poulev congratulated China on successfully advancing its modernization and making major achievements in economic development, scientific and technological innovation, infrastructure and other fields. Alexander Poulev said that his visit to China not long ago was a complete success, and the high-level reception by the Chinese side reflects the great importance China attaches to Bulgaria. The new Bulgarian government has the readiness and long-term planning for developing relations with China, and is ready to serve as a gateway for Chinese enterprises to enter Europe. Bulgaria is ready to make unremitting efforts to promote Bulgaria-China and Europe-China cooperation and transform friendly relations into more results of practical cooperation.
Wang Yi Holds Talks with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova
October 20 (MFA) – On October 19, 2026, local time, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in Sofia with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova.
Wang Yi noted that Bulgaria is one of the first countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China, and the two countries have friendly feelings toward each other. China-Bulgaria relations are embracing important opportunities, and this visit to Bulgaria is well-timed. The two sides conducted in-depth communication on planning high-level exchanges in the next stage and advancing practical cooperation in various fields, reaching broad consensus. It is necessary to continuously consolidate the political foundation and strengthen communication and coordination, so as to create important conditions for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation. China respects Bulgaria’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, welcomes Bulgaria’s realization of its development goals at a faster pace under the leadership of the new government, and is ready to be a long-term and trustworthy strategic partner of Bulgaria in this process. It is hoped that Bulgaria will continue to adhere to the one-China principle, and understand and support China’s legitimate position of safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Wang Yi said that China is ready to work with Bulgaria as partners in Eurasian connectivity, common development and revitalization, and the practice of multilateralism. The two sides should coordinate and form synergy among the Belt and Road cooperation, the alignment with the Middle Corridor, China‑CEEC cooperation and China‑Europe cooperation, so as to promote the accelerated development of each country.
Wang Yi stressed that China and Europe are partners rather than rivals, and are development opportunities rather than challenges for each other. The two sides should respect each other, appreciate each other, make achievements together, and jointly shoulder the international responsibilities for world peace and development. It is hoped that the EU will work with China to adhere to the right direction of openness, hold high the banner of free trade, oppose unilateralism and protectionism, and find ways to handle differences and resolve problems through dialogue and consultation.
Velislava Petrova said that Bulgaria and China share a profound traditional friendship and have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in various fields. Bulgaria has long adhered to and will continue to firmly follow the one‑China policy. Actively developing relations with China is the clear direction of the new Bulgarian government. Bulgaria is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in economy and trade, culture, education and other fields, expand cooperation in high‑tech and high value‑added fields, and really looks forward to the early opening of direct flights between the two countries. Bulgaria, located between the East and the West and at the crossroads connecting the European and Asian continents, attaches great importance to connectivity and is ready to find more converging interests with China in this field. Bulgaria supports positive dialogue between China and Europe, and welcomes the positive progress in China‑EU trade and investment consultations. It is hoped that both sides will continue to uphold a spirit of mutual respect and pragmatism, focus on the overall situation, and find solutions that accommodate the concerns of all parties.
The two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and other international and regional hotspot issues.
