Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Li Changchun on Thursday called on Reuters to report China as it is.

"Reuters should be a bridge in helping the world obtain a better understanding of China and report China as it is," Li said in a meeting with a Reuters delegation headed by Reuters chairman Niall Fitz Gerald.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also hailed the good partnership between Xinhua News Agency and Reuters over the past fifty years.

The meeting came after Xinhua and Reuters on Thursday afternoon held celebrations in the Great Hall of the People to mark their five decades of cooperation.

Reuters was the first Western news agency to forge cooperation with Xinhua. In May 1957, the two news agencies signed a deal on news story exchange.

Li said exchanges and cooperation among news organizations of different countries have become increasingly important as the world has entered an era of information and globalization.

Fitz Gerald hailed China's rapid development in economic and social sectors.

He said Reuters would like to carry out a more effective partnership with Xinhua.

Present at the meeting were head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee Liu Yunshan, Xinhua President Tian Congming and Editor-in-Chief Nan Zhenzhong.