Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday exchanged congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Over the past 30 years, China and South Korea have developed relations in all directions and in keeping pace with the times, bringing significant benefits to the two countries and peoples and making important contributions to regional and global peace and development, Xi said.

The Chinese president made it clear that as the pandemic is compounding the changes unseen in a century, the world is now entering a new period of turbulence and transformation.

At this critical moment, the international community, including China and South Korea, can only tide over the crisis by standing together with a focus on solidarity and cooperation, he said.

"China and South Korea shall be good neighbors, good friends and good partners," Xi said.

Nothing that he attaches great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations, Xi said he is ready to strengthen strategic communication with President Yoon to lead the two countries to take the anniversary as a new starting point, seize the trend, dispel disturbances, consolidate friendship and focus on cooperation to create a brighter future and better benefit both countries and peoples.

On his part, Yoon hailed what both countries have achieved in leaps and bounds in the political, economic and cultural fields, with the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries consolidated.

The annual trade between the two countries has soared nearly 50-fold, people-to-people exchanges have increased dozens of times, and a wide range of cultural exchanges have enhanced mutual understanding between the two peoples, he said.

China has become South Korea's largest trading partner, while South Korea is China's third-largest trading partner. The cumulative two-way investment between the two countries over the three decades has exceeded $100 billion, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

The South Korean president said he hopes the two countries will explore new directions of cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and promote the development of their relations in a more mature and healthy direction.

To that end, Yoon said he hopes the two sides will have more high-level contacts and strengthen substantive cooperation in economic security, such as supply chain, climate change and others.

The exchanges of congratulations between Xi and Yoon come as the latest high-level contact between Beijing and the new administration in Seoul. On March 25, Xi held a phone conversation with then South Korean President-elect Yoon. Months later,  Xi's special representative Wang Qishan attended Yoon's inauguration ceremony on May 10.

Strategic cooperative partnership

On Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also exchanged congratulations on the anniversary.

In a message, Li said China and South Korea are and will remain each other's close neighbors, and the two countries are inseparable partners of cooperation.

China is ready to work with South Korea to enhance mutual understanding and trust, deepen exchanges and cooperation and promote the healthy and stable development of the strategic cooperative partnership, he said.

Meanwhile, Han said the South Korean side looks forward to activating more high-level exchanges, boosting cooperation in supply chain, culture, environmental protection and other fields, and accelerating the second phase of negotiations on the free trade agreement between the two countries to promote better development of bilateral relations.

On August 24, 1992, China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) formally established diplomatic relations. The ROK is South Korea's official name. In 2008, the two countries upgraded their relationship into one of strategic cooperative partnership.

Under the partnership, both countries agree to step up solidarity and deepen political trust, keep frequent exchanges at all levels and communicate on major issues of common concern.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Wednesday also exchanged congratulatory messages over the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

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