{"id":18326,"date":"2026-06-08T10:53:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T05:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eng.dragonmedia.com.np\/?p=18326"},"modified":"2026-06-08T10:53:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T05:08:58","slug":"focus-on-expanding-cooperation-ahead-of-xis-dprk-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eng.dragonmedia.com.np\/?p=18326","title":{"rendered":"Focus on Expanding Cooperation Ahead of Xi\u2019s DPRK Visit<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beijing \u2014 Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, will pay a state visit to the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea from June 8 to 9. The visit, made at the invitation of Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers\u2019 Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, will be Xi\u2019s first state visit to the country in seven years.<\/p>\n

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, traditional friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK have continued to develop in a sound and steady manner.<\/p>\n

Exchanges and cooperation in the economy, culture, education, youth affairs and other fields have produced positive results, bringing benefits to both countries and their peoples. These efforts have injected new vitality into the traditional friendship between the two countries and contributed positively to regional peace and development.
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\nEconomic and Trade Cooperation<\/strong><\/p>\n

On May 4, the 24th Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair opened at the Pyongyang Central Youth Hall. Chinese products displayed at the fair proved popular among DPRK visitors.<\/p>\n

Yun Jong Ho, the DPRK\u2019s minister of external economic relations, visited several booths operated by Chinese enterprises. He said the DPRK continues to make new progress in the era of comprehensive socialist development and extended a warm welcome to outstanding Chinese enterprises taking part in the fair. Yun expressed confidence that the two sides would further expand exchanges and cooperation in the economy, trade and other fields, contributing to their respective economic and social development.<\/p>\n

In recent years, China-DPRK economic and trade cooperation has shown positive momentum. According to Chinese official statistics, bilateral trade volume reached 2.735 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.<\/p>\n

The Guomenwan trade zone in Dandong, a city in northeast China\u2019s Liaoning Province, has seen increasingly close economic and trade exchanges between China and the DPRK. In 2025, the zone recorded 168 million yuan, about 24.8 million U.S. dollars, in imports through border residents\u2019 trade, with 22,000 participants involved in such transactions throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Zhang Xu, an official with the trade zone, said that during this year\u2019s May Day holiday, Chinese representatives from the trade zone took part in an international exhibition in the DPRK and held talks with more than 30 DPRK enterprises. Since May, he said, representatives from DPRK trading companies have been coming for discussions almost every weekend.<\/p>\n

Liang Tongjun, president of the China Chamber of Commerce in the DPRK, said the chamber, as an important platform for non-governmental economic and trade exchanges, is willing to promote mutual understanding and closer ties between the two peoples through economic, trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.<\/p>\n

Zhang Huizhi, deputy director of the Northeast Asian Research Center at Jilin University, said practical cooperation between China and the DPRK in economic, social and other fields will further promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the region, contributing to the stability and prosperity of Northeast Asia.<\/p>\n

People-to-People Connectivity and Resumed Transport Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

On March 12, an international passenger train from Dandong arrived in Pyongyang, marking the resumption of international passenger train services between China and the DPRK.<\/p>\n

On March 30, an Air China passenger plane from Beijing arrived at Pyongyang International Airport, formally signaling the resumption of the Chinese carrier\u2019s passenger flights between the capitals of China and the DPRK. With this, road, rail and air links between the two countries have all been restored.<\/p>\n

China State Railway Group said the international passenger train is not only an important channel for cross-border travel, but also a living bridge of friendship between the two countries. It is expected to further facilitate personnel exchanges and promote people-to-people connectivity.<\/p>\n

Cultural and artistic exchanges are an important part of China-DPRK friendship. Several Chinese films have won awards at the Pyongyang International Film Festival, while the DPRK\u2019s April Spring Friendship Art Festival has repeatedly invited Chinese art troupes to participate.<\/p>\n

The year 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the DPRK, as well as the China-DPRK Friendship Year. At the opening ceremony of the Friendship Year, artists from both countries presented their long-standing and distinctive cultural traditions through refined performances, expressing the shared hope of both peoples to carry forward their traditional friendship.<\/p>\n

Youth and Educational Exchanges<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Grand People\u2019s Study House, located in Pyongyang\u2019s Kim Il Sung Square, is an important documentation center and a major venue for social and cultural education in the DPRK. It has long offered Chinese language training courses, with each session attracting as many as 600 to 700 students. According to the institution, Pyongyang citizens have shown strong enthusiasm for learning Chinese.<\/p>\n

Huang Li, a Chinese language teacher from Liaodong University in northeast China\u2019s Liaoning Province, has taught at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies three times. She said she has developed deep friendships with local teachers and students. More than 1,000 students she has taught have become an important force in promoting traditional China-DPRK friendship and advancing exchanges between the two countries.<\/p>\n

According to the plan, Huang will return to the DPRK to teach in the second half of this year. She said that in addition to Chinese language instruction, she hopes to offer practical courses in fields such as economy, trade, tourism and law, helping cultivate interdisciplinary and application-oriented talent.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang University of Science and Technology resumed hosting the Chinese Proficiency Test, known as HSK, in 2025. During a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wang Yajun, the university\u2019s vice rector, Choe Ryong Ho, said Chinese language education at the university has been developing steadily. He said the university would continue improving Chinese teaching to further strengthen practical cooperation and talent exchanges with relevant Chinese universities.<\/p>\n

Niu Xiao, a lecturer at the School of Government of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, once studied in the DPRK. In late August last year, she was invited by Kim Il Sung University to attend an international academic seminar in Pyongyang. She described the visit as both an academic journey and a vivid opportunity to witness traditional China-DPRK friendship and the DPRK\u2019s economic and social development.<\/p>\n

In early May this year, 70 Chinese government scholarship students from 16 universities across China arrived in Pyongyang to begin their studies at leading DPRK universities, including Kim Il Sung University and Kim Hyong Jik University of Education.<\/p>\n

Gu Dian, a student from Shanghai International Studies University, said studying in the DPRK allows Chinese students to more deeply appreciate the vitality of traditional China-DPRK friendship. He said students would turn what they learn in the DPRK into concrete actions to promote friendship between the two countries and help ensure that people-to-people and cultural exchanges are passed down from generation to generation.<\/p>\n

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