Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin will visit China from Sunday to January 8 at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Saturday.

The upcoming visit is the first by a taoiseach in 14 years.

Martin will meet President Xi Jinping, while Li and National People's Congress Standing Committee chairman Zhao Leji will hold talks with him on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest.

In addition to Beijing, Martin will visit Shanghai.

In recent years, the China-Ireland strategic partnership for mutually beneficial cooperation has enjoyed robust development, said the spokesperson.

"Our two sides have always treated each other with mutual respect and equality. Through open cooperation, we've achieved mutual complementarity and common development, and benefited our two peoples."

The spokesperson said that through the upcoming visit, China stands ready to work with Ireland to enhance political mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and provide new impetus for the two sides to pursue high-quality development and sound and steady advancement of China-EU relations in the new era. (Xinhua)