File photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Picture credit: AP)
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he is ready to work with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to steer bilateral ties towards “long-term, sound and stable” development, as both countries seek to deepen their traditional partnership amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang’s expanding military cooperation with Russia.According to news agency AFP, Xi conveyed the message in a letter dated July 1, thanking Kim for his congratulatory message marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.The message was published on Sunday by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Xi said Kim’s message reflected the “deep and warm feelings” of the North Korean leader, the ruling Workers’ Party and the North Korean people towards China.
Xi vows to deepen strategic partnership
Emphasising the historical relationship between the two neighbours, Xi said the Communist Party of China and the Workers’ Party of Korea had stood together in the struggle for national independence and advanced the socialist cause across generations.”I am ready to guide the relevant sectors and regions of both sides to the full implementation of the important common understanding achieved among us and lead the China-DPRK relations to a long-term, sound and stable development,” Xi said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name. He also thanked Kim for the “enthusiastic and friendly” hospitality extended during his recent state visit to Pyongyang.The exchange follows Xi’s rare visit to North Korea last month, during which the two leaders pledged to strengthen bilateral ties as regional security tensions continued to rise.
Kim had called summit a ‘historic occasion’
The letter was Xi’s response to Kim’s earlier congratulatory message marking the anniversary of China’s ruling Communist Party.Kim had described the recent summit in Pyongyang as a “historic occasion” that deepened mutual trust and reaffirmed the two countries’ “unshakable will” to strengthen their traditional friendship.Kim also said it was North Korea’s “steadfast stand” to continue developing ties with Beijing and pledged to further expand friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.
China remains North Korea’s biggest economic partner
The latest exchange comes even as North Korea has significantly expanded security cooperation with Russia by sending troops and munitions to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.Despite Pyongyang’s growing military partnership with Moscow, China continues to be North Korea’s most important economic partner.According to AFP, citing South Korea’s ministry of economy and finance, China accounted for nearly 98 per cent of North Korea’s foreign trade in 2024.During Xi’s June visit to Pyongyang, both leaders adopted what North Korean state media described as a “far-reaching blueprint” for bilateral relations and pledged to elevate their traditional friendship into “the most powerful and strategic relations”.Xi also praised the relationship by saying China and North Korea were “linked by mountains and rivers and share a common destiny”, while Kim reaffirmed support for Beijing’s “One China” policy and described China as Pyongyang’s top diplomatic priority.
