China and DPRK eye closer party ties, cooperation

China's top political adviser Wang Huning wrapped up his three-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Friday, the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between Beijing and Pyongyang.

While meeting with Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, Wang said China is ready to work with the DPRK to maintain close communication and exchanges between the two parties through various forms, deliver more tangible results through practical cooperation between the two countries and further consolidate public support for the China-DPRK friendship.

Such efforts are intended to continuously enrich the traditional China-DPRK friendship with new dimensions in keeping with the times, Wang said.

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, conveyed to Kim cordial greetings and best wishes from Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president.

During a two-day state visit to the DPRK in June, Xi and Kim reached a series of important common understandings, which Wang said charted a blueprint for China-DPRK relations in the new era and injected strong impetus into the socialist causes of both countries.

China stands ready to work with the DPRK to fully implement the important common understandings reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries and give full play to the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, Wang said.

He added that the two sides should ensure that relations between the two parties and the two countries always develop in a direction conducive to consolidating their respective socialist causes and advancing modernization in both countries.

Common understanding

Kim said the decision to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was an important common understanding he reached with Xi in June.

The signing of the treaty defined the strategic nature of DPRK-China relations and ensured their strategic direction, he added.

The DPRK will continue to regard developing its relations with China as its most important strategic undertaking, carry forward the spirit of the treaty, strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen experience sharing in party building, enhance political and strategic mutual trust, and expand cooperation in such fields as the economy, science and technology, health, and culture, Kim said.

On Thursday, Wang and Pak Thaesong, premier of the Cabinet of the DPRK, attended and delivered speeches at a reception commemorating the 65th anniversary of the signing of the treaty in Pyongyang. Pak had earlier led a DPRK party and government delegation on an official visit to China and attended commemorative events marking the anniversary.