For decades, people-to-people exchanges have played a critical role in the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK. With the countries now celebrating 70 years of formal diplomatic relations, CGTN's Wang Mengzhen takes a closer look at how the two peoples are continuing to come together.

Just ahead of this year's traditional spring festival holiday, a DPRK art troupe visited Beijing to perform traditional songs and dances. Among the audience were Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan. Very soon, the art societies of the two close neighbors will meet again, as artists from the DPRK will embark on a month-long visit this November for both the 70th anniversary of the PRC's founding as well as the two countries' diplomatic ties.

WANG MENGZHEN BEIJING "At that time, the two sides will also discuss the establishment of a China-DPRK Friendship Gallery, as well as a joint International Film Festival."

Academic exchanges are one highlight of the two-way communication. Each year, China sends some 60 government-funded students to DPRK institutions, including Kim Il Sung University to study Korean language for about seven months at a time; About 200 university professors from the DPRK also go to China for further education.

In early May, the first Chinese language test center was established in the DPRK, allowing Chinese language learners in the country to sit for the Chinese Proficiency Exam, better known as the HSK.

Many students in the DPRK simply love practicing Chinese and even performing traditional oral artforms, like cross-talk.

CHOE HYEONJEONG, STUDENT PYONGYANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY "I have liked the Chinese language since I was a child. I have watched many Chinese TV shows and, gradually, I fell in love with it. I have studied Chinese for a year-and-a-half."

Another lucrative area is tourism with increasing numbers of Chinese people now crossing the Yalu River from Northeast Chinese border towns for sightseeing.

Every year, the DPRK attracts around two hundred thousand Chinese tourists. And Chinese travel website Mafengwo says the country's popularity is on the rise with Chinese travelers to the country jumping 18 percent since the start of 2019.

Sports exchanges are also binding the two peoples closer together. Last October, a Chinese sports delegation, including former NBA star Yao Ming, visited the DPRK, as part of what was called 'basketball diplomacy'. WANG MENGZHEN, CGTN, BEIJING.