President Hu Jintao met on Tuesday with visiting top legislator Kim Yong Nam, chairman of the Presidium of Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), saying that China is ready to strengthen warm and cooperative relations.

Kim arrived in Beijing Monday morning for an official goodwill visit to China.

Hu and Kim exchanged views cordially in discussions that included the Korean nuclear issue. Both expressed a desire to continue working to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons and to seek a peaceful solution and maintain stability through dialogue.

Applauding the longstanding friendship between China and North Korea as strong asset of both nations, Hu said China places a high value on the development of their relationship.

He said that by maintaining their tradition of facing the future side by side, the Communist Party of China and the Workers' Party of Korea will continue to improve cooperation. China is also ready for enhanced coordination with North Korea in regional and international affairs, he added.

Kim praised the policy of friendship that China has pursued towards his country and said that, in a complex and ever-changing international situation, North Korea will work to strengthen their friendship and push pragmatic cooperation to a new level.

This is the firm policy of the North Korean government and the Workers' Party of Korea, said Kim.  

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2004)