Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Monday sent a message to Kim Jong-il, his counterpart of the Workers' Party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), warmly congratulating him, the party and the people on the 55th anniversary of the party.

In the message, Jiang, praising the Workers' Party as a proletarian party with a long history of revolutionary struggles, pointed out that under the leadership of the Workers' Party, the Korean people established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and safeguarded the national sovereignty and dignity.

After the Korean War, the Workers' Party, led by Kim Il-sung, leading and uniting all the DPRK people, overcame various difficulties and made incessant progress in socialist construction, he said.

During recent years, the Workers' Party, led by General Secretary Kim Jong-il, has carried on Kim Il-sung's unfulfilled wishes and united the people in overcoming difficulties. Now they have made a series of remarkable achievements in socialist construction, in developing good relations with other countries, advancing independent and peaceful reunification and in safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, Jiang said.

The CPC and the Chinese people heartily rejoice at the accomplishments achieved by the Workers' Party and the people of DPRK in all fields, Jiang said.

China is confident that the DPRK Workers' Party under the leadership of Kim Jong-il will definitely lead the people of the DPRK into the new century in high spirits and achieve even greater successes in socialist construction, national independence, peaceful unification and foreign relations, said Jiang.

China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors, whose traditional friendship was forged and fostered by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and Kim Il-sung and other leaders of the old generations, Jiang noted.

The friendship, which has withheld tests in over a half century and taken deep roots in the hearts of the two peoples, has been growing under the care of the two parties, two countries and two peoples, said Jiang.

At this important historical moment of the inception of the new century, maintaining and strengthening Sino-DPRK friendship conforms to the common aspirations and fundamental interests of the two parties, two countries and two peoples, and is conducive to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, Northeastern Asia and the world as a whole, he said.

He emphasized that developing and consolidating the Sino-DPRK friendship is an unswerving policy of the CPC.

China is willing to carry on the cause and forge ahead into the future together with the DPRK people, strengthen cooperation and develop Sino-DPRK neighborly friendship more vigorously through joint efforts, Jiang said.

Jiang heartily wishes that the Sino-DPRK friendship will go down from generation to generation and be eternal.

(People's Daily 10/09/2000)