Chinese President Hu Jintao said in Bangkok Sunday that China and South Korea should make joint efforts to continue the process of Beijing talks and maintain the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

When meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Hu reiterated China's stance on the Korean nuclear issue. He said the two countries share same or similar views on the issue and both agree that it should be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means.

In August, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan held three-day talks in Beijing to address the nuclear issue of the DPRK. The session ended with no fixed date or venue for a second round of such talks.

In his meeting with Roh, the Chinese president noted that during Roh's visit to China in July, the two sides decided to establish a full-range cooperative relationship and have set the key areas of cooperation.

Under that spirit, the two sides have seen progress in various areas of cooperation. The regular meetings between leaders of the two countries demonstrated the good relationship between the two countries, Hu said.

Currently, China-South Korea economic relations and trade grew rapidly, with bilateral trade volume reaching 44 billion US dollars from January to September this year.

"We consider that the smooth growth of relations and the expansion of trade between our two sides have brought concrete benefits to people of our two countries," Hu said. "We hope the two sides would make more efforts to implement the partnership relations that two sides aim to establish."

Roh said South Korea is committed to developing cooperation with China in all areas and is ready to reduce trade barriers and to expand imports from China.

South Korea hopes to increase consultation and cooperation with China in regional and international affairs, and make joint efforts with China to safeguard the peace and stability of the region, Roh added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2003)