President congratulates DPRK on anniversary

China is willing to maintain strategic communication and strengthen cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the benefit of both sides and the world at large, President Xi Jinping told the top leader of the DPRK on Friday.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark in a congratulatory message sent to Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, on the 74th anniversary of the country's founding.

As changes unseen in a century are accelerating, the world has entered a period of new turbulence and transformation, Xi said, noting that China stands ready to work with the DPRK to jointly safeguard, consolidate and develop bilateral relations against such a background.

This will not only bring more benefits to the two countries and their peoples, but also contribute to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region and the whole world, he said.

China-DPRK friendship has become increasingly deep-rooted in the hearts of the two peoples, Xi said. As bilateral exchanges and cooperation have continued to move forward and the two countries have supported each other on issues of major concern, this friendship has great vitality, he added.

Xi said that over the past 74 years, the people of the DPRK have closely united around the WPK and forged ahead, having made important achievements in promoting socialist construction.

Guided by the principles and policies set at the eighth WPK Congress, the DPRK people have, in recent years, made new progress in developing the DPRK economy and improving people's livelihoods and fought a successful battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi said.

China is sincerely pleased with this as a good comrade, good neighbor and good friend of the DPRK, he added.