Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will further the development of traditional Sino-DPRK good-neighborly relations in the new century, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao Tuesday.
Jiang, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China (CPC), held talks Monday with Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee and chairman of the National Defense Commission, and they exchanged ideas and achieved common understanding on the further development of the Sino-DPRK relationship as well as on major international and regional issues of common concern, said Zhu at a press conference.
Zhu noted that China and DPRK have a traditional friendship. For a long time, the two countries have maintained good cooperation and exchanges in various areas and sectors.
Kim Jong Il's visits to China in May last year and January this year have boosted the mutual understanding, trust and friendship between the two parties, countries and peoples, he added.
Invited by Kim Jong Il, Jiang is on a three-day official goodwill visit to DPRK, which started on Monday.
(a href=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/home.html> People’s Daily 09/04/2001)