Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and president of China, held talks with Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Friday afternoon in Pyongyang.

They had in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral ties and international and regional issues of common interest.

Hu congratulated Kim on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japan's colonial rule in 1945.

He expressed the hope that the DPRK will make great headway in its nation-building and the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim, general secretary of the WPK and chairman of the National Defense Commission, said Hu's visit, on the occasion of the Month of DPRK-China Friendship in October, has promoted the friendship between the two countries to a new high.

China-DPRK relations are in a good momentum of development and the traditional friendship between the two countries has been further strengthened, said Hu, adding that the two sides have maintained close high-level contacts and exchanged views on issues of common concern through different channels.

The two countries have conducted a dynamic cooperation in various fields, which further promoted their relations in an all-round way, said Hu.

China and the DPRK have also maintained close coordination on international and regional issues of common interest, he added.

The Chinese president said the development of China-DPRK relations has benefited the two peoples and contributed to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world as a whole.

The Chinese government and the CPC will continue to develop and cement its friendship with the DPRK, and it is the common responsibility for both countries to further their friendly cooperation, he noted.

China is willing to make joint efforts with the DPRK to develop their relations in the spirit of carrying forward the tradition, looking forward to the future, developing good-neighborliness and friendship and boosting cooperation, Hu said.

He put forward a four-point proposal for further developing relations between the two countries and two parties. First, forging closer high-level contacts and exchanges; second, extending exchanges in a greater scope of fields and enriching the substance of cooperation; third, promoting economic and trade cooperation for common development; and fourth, conducting active coordination for common interest.

Kim agreed with Hu's proposal. He pledged that whatever change happens in the international situation, the DPRK will handle the DPRK-China friendship from a strategic perspective and view the development of the DPRK-Chinese friendship as a consistent strategic guideline.

Kim said the DPRK-China relations are soundly moving forward on the basis of the common positions reached by the two countries in 2004.

He said that the traditional DPRK-China friendly relations are inherited, highlighted and enhanced by the new collective leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, which the DPRK highly appreciates.

He also expressed gratitude to China for its generous aid for the DPRK.

The DPRK leader congratulated China on the new achievements in its economic and social development. He noted the new central collective leadership, with Hu as general secretary, adheres to the conception of "putting people first" and "Government for the People", sticks to the "scientific development conception" and commits itself to building a harmonious socialist society.

The DPRK hopes that China will make greater progress in all fields of economic and social development and make the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing a success, said Kim.

The DPRK will continue its "One China" policy and oppose any form of separatist activities for the "independence of Taiwan."

On the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, Hu said the fourth round of the six-party talks has registered substantial progress for the current phase, stressing that China upholds the objective of building a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and resolving the problem through dialogue.

China firmly safeguards peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and it will work together with the DPRK and all other parties concerned to implement the general objective stated in the Joint Statement and help achieve new progress in the fifth round of the six-party talks.

Kim highly appreciated China's positive stance of dedicating to promoting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and its major contributions to this effect.

The DPRK sticks to its stance on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and its position of peacefully resolving the nuclear issue through dialogue, said Kim.

Noting that the Joint Statement issued at the fourth round of the six-party talks in Beijing was positive and a hard won result, Kim said that the DPRK will attend the fifth round of the six-party talks scheduled in Beijing in early November as it has promised.

The DPRK, South Korea, Russia, China, the United States and Japan have already held four rounds of talks to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Hu and Kim also attended the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement on economy and technology between the two countries.

Before the talks, the Chinese president visited the Kumsusan Memorial Palace to pay tribute to late DPRK leader Kim Il Sung. He also laid wreath before the Sino-DPRK Friendship Tower to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Chinese People's Volunteers during the 1951-1953 Korean War.

Hu arrived in Pyongyang early Friday for an official goodwill visit to the DPRK at the invitation of Kim.

Source: Xinhua