China welcomes ROK's return of soldiers' remains

The Republic of Korea's (ROK) return to China of the remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War will strengthen friendly feelings of the two peoples towards each other, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

Hong Lei made the comment at a daily news briefing as the remains of 437 Chinese soldiers were returned to China on Friday morning.

Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked ROK counterpart Park Geun-hye for her country's assistance during their meeting in the Netherlands, Hong said.

A Chinese plane carrying the coffins of the soldiers landed at an airport in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, at around 9:20 am and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli attended a solemn welcome ceremony there at 11:30 am.

The Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) fought side by side with the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the Korean War against the South Korean army and U.S.-led UN forces. Tens of thousands of CPV soldiers died on the Korean Peninsula during the war, which ended in an armistice in 1953.

The Chinese soldiers were buried in graves scattered to the south of the Military Demarcation Line on the peninsula. In recent years, their remains have been excavated, identified and reburied in South Korea's border city of Paju.

Park Geun-hye offered to return the remains during her China visit in June 2013.