Chinese president meets ROK political party leader

Chinese President Hu Jintao said in Beijing Tuesday China is ready to work with the Republic of Korea (ROK) to promote the comprehensive and cooperative partnership.

Hu told Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the Grand National Party, that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government attached importance to its relations with the ROK, and will increase exchanges and cooperation at the party-to-party and other levels for a stable growth of the comprehensive and cooperative partnership.

China and the ROK agreed to forge the partnership when Hu Jintao met ROK President Roh Moo-hyun last year.

The two countries established full diplomatic relations 13 years ago.

Hu said there are many favorable conditions for the two sides to develop friendly ties, citing geographical vicinity, close cultural links and high complementarity in economic structure.

Two-way trade between China and the ROK reached 90.068 billion US dollars in 2004, up 42.2 percent from the previous year. The ROK was China's fourth largest trading partner while China was the largest trading partner of ROK.

In addition, the ROK was the third largest source of direct overseas investment to China last year. The ROK businesses invested 6.248 billion US dollars in China in 2004 alone.

For her part, Park Geun-hye said the Grand National Party highly appreciates the capability of the CPC in leading China to the long-term economic boom.

She said her party will work with the CPC for a sustainable growth of bilateral relations.

Source: Xinhua