Xi reaffirms support for DPRK ties

Need for political settlement of nuclear issue on peninsula cited before key visit

President Xi Jinping highlighted China's firm position on Wednesday to build close ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and reaffirmed Beijing's support for Pyongyang in striving for the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist of China Central Committee, made the comments in a signed article published by the DPRK's mainstream media including the Rodong Sinmun, an official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.