Enhancing friendship, cooperation, assistance in accordance with treaty

THURSDAY MARKED the 58th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. People's Daily comments:

The friendship between China and the DPRK is a strategic choice made by both countries with their long-term interests in mind and it will not be shaken by any changes in the international situation.

Premier Zhou Enlai and DPRK leader Kim Il-sung signed the friendship and cooperation treaty in Beijing in 1961, formalizing the deep friendship between the two peoples forged during the long period of revolutionary struggle and socialist construction and further consolidating the political basis for the development of bilateral relations. The signing of the treaty showed the great importance the two countries attached to bilateral relations and the aspiration of the two peoples to continuously develop friendly and cooperative relations.