China and South Korea are close neighbors and inseparable cooperation partners, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday when he met with President Yoon Suk-yeol of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Bali, Indonesia. 

Xi pointed out that China and the ROK are close neighbors that will always live next to each other and are cooperation partners that cannot be separated, adding the two countries shoulder important responsibilities in maintaining peace of the region and promoting prosperity of the world. 

Xi noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of China-ROK diplomatic relations and what happened in the past three decades shows that the sound and steady development of China-ROK relations serves the fundamental interests of both peoples. 

China is ready to work with the ROK to uphold, consolidate and further develop the bilateral relationship and to provide greater stability for the region and the world, Xi said. 

He stressed the need for the two sides to increase strategic communication and political mutual trust, as well as to enhance alignment of development strategies and work for common development and prosperity. 

He further called for the two sides to accelerate negotiations on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement, deepen cooperation in such areas as high-tech manufacturing, big data and green economy, jointly uphold the international free trade system, keep the global industrial and supply chains secure, stable and unclogged. 

China is also ready to work with the ROK to promote cultural exchanges and cooperation, scale up communication and coordination at the G20 and other fora, he added.

President Yoon expressed readiness to use the 30th anniversary of ROK-China relations as an opportunity to develop a mature relationship based on mutual respect and benefit, which is in the common interests of both countries. 

He said the ROK hopes to maintain interactions with China on various levels, step up people-to-people exchanges, enhance friendship between the two peoples, uphold the free trade system and jointly tackle global challenges.