Xi Expresses Confidence in Enduring China-DPRK Friendship

Beijing/Pyongyang — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, has said he looks forward to meeting Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to discuss the traditional friendship between the two countries and exchange views on the overall development of bilateral relations.

Xi made the remarks in a signed article published on Monday in Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the DPRK’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, ahead of his state visit to the country. The visit is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday and marks Xi’s first state visit to the DPRK in seven years.

Xi said China and the DPRK are friendly socialist neighbors who stand by each other and share a common future. No matter how times change or how the international situation evolves, he said, the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK remains unbreakable, enduring and full of vitality.

According to Xi, top-level strategic guidance is the greatest strength of China-DPRK relations. He noted that in recent years, he and Kim have held six meetings, maintained close strategic communication and jointly drawn up a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations.

Xi also said that a shared socialist ideal is a defining feature of China-DPRK relations. The traditional friendship between the two countries, rooted in the vision of a shared future, forms the solid foundation of bilateral ties, he added.

In the article, Xi said high-level strategic coordination gives China-DPRK relations contemporary significance. Promoting long-term peace and stability in the region, as well as world peace and stability, is the common pursuit of the two parties, the two countries and their peoples, he said.

Xi said China and the DPRK have firmly supported each other in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests. The two sides, he added, have also worked together to uphold regional peace, international fairness and justice, and the postwar international order.

The article was published ahead of Xi’s state visit to the DPRK. It highlighted China-DPRK relations in terms of historical friendship, socialist cooperation, strategic coordination and the vision of a shared future.