Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), paid an unofficial visit to China from April 19 to 21 at the invitation of Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and president of China.  

A spokesman with the International Department of the CPC Central Committee made the announcement in Beijing Wednesday.

During the visit, Hu held talks with Kim at the Great Hall of the People and hosted a welcoming banquet in honor of Kim and other DPRK guests. Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin met with Kim. Member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress Wu Bangguo, Member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and Premier Wen Jiabao, Member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Jia Qinglin, and Member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and Vice President Zeng Qinghong met with Kim respectively. Leaders of the two parties and the two countries, amid a cordial, friendly and candid atmosphere, briefed each other on their respective domestic conditions, and exchanged views and reached wide-ranging consensus on further developing the relations between the two parties and the two countries, international and regional situations and the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula.

Member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju greeted Kim at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse after Kim arrived in Beijing.

Participating in the talks and attending the banquet on the Chinese side were Zeng Qinghong; Wang Gang, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee; Tang Jiaxuan, Chinese state councilor; Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee; and Dai Bingguo, vice foreign minister.

Also attending the banquet were Huang Ju; Wu Guanzheng, member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party of China; Li Changchun, member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee; Luo Gan, member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Qi, member of Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee; Guo Boxiong, member of Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of Central Military Commission; Zeng Peiyan, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice premier and Wu Donghe, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK.

Liu Yunshan, member of Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee; and He Guoqiang, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee also attended the meeting between Zeng Qinghong and Kim Jong-il.

Kim's entourage included Member of the National Defense Commission and Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army Kim Yong-chun, Premier of the Cabinet of the DPRK Pak Bong-ju, Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission Yon Hyong-muk, and First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju. Kim Yong-chun and Kang Sok-ju also attended the talks between Hu Jintao and Kim Jong-il.

During Kim's China tour, he also visited Tianjin Municipality, accompanied by Zhang Lichang, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee.

Kim was satisfied with the results of his China tour and extended his sincere gratitude to the Chinese side for the warm reception and hospitality, the spokesman said.

China, DPRK should further high-level exchanges: Hu

The Chinese side suggests that China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) further strengthen high-level exchanges between the two parties and the two countries to enhance mutual understanding and trust, said Hu Jintao during his talks with Kim Jong-il.

Leaders of the two parties and the two countries spoke positively of the China-DPRK relations.

Hu said that in the new century, both China and the DPRK, in the spirit of inheriting the tradition, facing up to the future, building good-neighborly friendship and strengthening cooperation, have made positive efforts for the development of bilateral relations in the new era. There has been a sound momentum for bilateral high-level exchanges, and bilateral exchanges and cooperation at various levels and in different fields have become ever more active and bilateral economic and trade cooperation has continuously witnessed new progresses.

The Chinese side is satisfied with the development of the friendly and cooperative relations between the two parties and the two countries, noted Hu.

Hu said this year is the 55th anniversary of the China-DPRK diplomatic relations, and reviewing the development of bilateral relations in the past half a century, we feel deeply that the friendship and cooperation between the two parties and the two countries have been deep-rooted and even firmer as time goes by. China's new collective leadership treasures the China-DPRK friendship meticulously cultivated by leaders of elder generations of the two countries, and will continue making efforts for the consolidation and development of bilateral friendship.

Under the new circumstances, said Hu, to raise bilateral friendship and cooperation to a new level in a bid to continuously invigorate bilateral traditional friendship, the Chinese side suggests that both sides further strengthen high-level exchanges between the two parties and the two countries to enhance mutual understanding and trust, strengthen exchanges and deepen bilateral overall cooperation in various fields, strengthen communication, consultations and cooperation on major international and regional issues, and further develop bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

China, DPRK agree to continue pushing forward six-party talks

China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to continue jointly pushing forward the six-party talks process.

The agreement was reached during the talks between Hu Jintao and Kim Jong-il.

During the talks, leaders of the two parties and the two countries exchanged in-depth views on peacefully solving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula. Both sides fully reaffirmed the positive results of the Beijing tri-party talks and the two rounds of six-party talks, and agreed to continue the position on solving the issue through dialogue and in a peaceful way, and jointly pushing forward the six-party talks process, so as to make contributions to the final, peaceful solution.

Hu stressed that China, as a neighbor of the Korean Peninsula, has been committed to safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, supports a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, supports a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue through dialogue, and upholds that the DPRK's rational concerns should be addressed.

Kim highly valued the Chinese party's and government's positive stance on and important contributions to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. He said the DPRK side sticks to the final nuclear-weapon-free goal and its basic position on seeking for a peaceful solution through dialogue has not changed.

The DPRK side will continue to take a patient and flexible manner and actively participate in the six-party talks process, and make its own contributions to the progress of the talks.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2004)