President Xi Jinping, his wife, Peng Liyuan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's top leader Kim Jongun and wife, Ri Solju, pose for a photo before the leaders' talks in Pyongyang on Thursday. (JU PENG / XINHUA)
China would like to offer as much help as possible to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to address its legitimate security and development concerns, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark while meeting with Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, during his two-day state visit to the country.
Xi received a grand and warm welcome, with more than 250,000 DPRK people turning out to greet him.
The visit, Xi's first as general secretary and head of state, and also the first of its kind in 14 years, comes as the two neighboring countries are celebrating the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.
China would like to enhance coordination and cooperation with all relevant parties including the DPRK to play a positive and constructive role in promoting the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the peace of the region, Xi said.
Noting that the peninsula issue is highly complicated and sensitive, Xi underlined the need to examine the development of the peninsula situation from a strategic, long-term view and maintain peace and stability on the peninsula.
Xi spoke positively of the DPRK's efforts to maintain stability on the peninsula and promote the region's denuclearization, and said that the international community hopes that Pyongyang and Washington continue with their talks and come to terms.
Kim said that over the past 12 months, the DPRK has taken many positive measures to prevent tensions from rising and handled the situation of the peninsula.
However, these efforts did not receive a positive response from the relevant parties.
The DPRK is ready to remain patient and, at the same time, relevant parties should meet the DPRK halfway in seeking solutions that answer the legitimate concerns of all sides, Kim said.
The DPRK spoke highly of China's significant role in the process of addressing the peninsula issue, Kim said, adding that the DPRK would like to enhance communication and coordination with China to promote a political resolution of the peninsula issue.
During the talks, Xi and Kim agreed that the two countries should remain true to their original aspirations, join hands in moving forward and create a better future for the two parties and the two countries.
Xi pointed out that he had held four meetings with Kim since last year, during which the two leaders wrote new chapters in China-DPRK relations and forged a deep friendship.
Xi expressed gratitude for the grand and warm welcoming ceremony hosted by Kim, saying that he could feel the deep feelings between the two countries everywhere, from his landing at the airport until his arrival at where he will stay.
The visit is aimed at deepening the China-DPRK friendship and promoting a political resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue, Xi said.
He added that the two sides will take the opportunity of the visit to draw a blueprint for a bright future for China-DPRK relations.
China strongly believes that the China-DPRK friendship meets the will and fundamental interests of the people of both countries and corresponds to the trend of the time, Xi said, adding that it is also a strategic choice made by the two sides that cannot be changed no matter how the international situation changes.
As China-DPRK ties have entered a new historical period, Xi said that China attaches great importance to friendly and cooperative ties with the DPRK.
It is always the firm policy of the Party and government of China to maintain, strengthen and develop China-DPRK relations, he said.
Xi called on the two countries to enhance high-level exchanges to guide the development of bilateral ties amid complicated changes in global and regional situations.
The two sides should enhance strategic communications and exchange views on major issues in a timely manner to build a good environment for the development of bilateral ties, Xi said, and the two countries should expand practical cooperation to bring more benefits to the people of both sides.
In their talks, Xi also stressed the importance of deepening mutual learning on the experience of governance, enhancing training of each other's officials and boosting exchanges in such areas as education, health, sports, media, youth and local government.
On behalf of the Workers' Party of Korea, the government and the people of the DPRK, Kim expressed a warm welcome to Xi, saying that the general secretary's visit, amid his tight schedule, is a great encouragement and shows political support for his party, government and people.
The visit is helpful for the two countries to recall the 70-year process of DPRK-China relations, map out the future for bilateral ties and demonstrate the unshakable traditional friendship between the two countries, Kim said.
Noting that he completely agreed with Xi's analysis and plan regarding DPRK-China relations, Kim said that it's the firm stance of his party and the government of the DPRK to inherit and promote the friendship with China from generation to generation.
Kim said that he cherishes the deep friendship with Xi and attaches great importance to the consensuses reached by the two leaders.
The DPRK would like to take the visit as an opportunity to promote strategic communication with China, deepen exchanges in all areas and promote bilateral ties to a higher level, Kim said. The DPRK would like to learn from China's experience and dedicate itself to developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods, he said.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were greeted by Kim and his wife, Ri Solju, at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport upon their arrival.
Under Chinese and DPRK national flags and large welcome banners, nearly 10,000 people lined up at the airport, waving flowers and chanting cheerful slogans to greet the Chinese guests.
Following a grand welcoming ceremony complete with a 21-gun salute, Xi headed to the square of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where he became the first foreign leader to receive a salute at the highly symbolic site. Hundreds of thousands of people lined up along the road from the airport, waving flags and flowers and chanting "Long Live the China-DPRK Friendship" and other slogans to welcome Xi.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
