Politics
16:05, 09-Sep-2018
Xi sends congratulatory letter to Kim Jong Un as DPRK celebrates its 70th anniversary
Updated
15:57, 12-Sep-2018
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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent Kim Jong Un, the leader of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a congratulatory letter as the country began celebrations marking its 70th anniversary.
Xi extended warm congratulations and sincere wishes to Kim, the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the people of the DPRK.
Xi hailed the "traditional friendship" between the two, saying China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors linked by the same mountain and rivers.
Speaking of his three meetings with Kim this year, Xi said he made "clearer" the orientation of the development of relations between the two countries and that he hopes to promote the "prolonged, sound and stable" development of the bilateral ties to bring more well-being to people of both countries.
Kim visited China three times in three months in 2018.
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The DPRK leader made his trip to Beijing – his first foreign visit since coming to power in 2011 – holding talks with Xi in March.
The second and third visits came after Kim met with Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in at the border village of Panmunjom and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.
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Pyongyang held a military parade on Sunday morning.
Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the celebrations.
Celebrations began Saturday evening with a concert in front of an invited audience of several thousand people at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.
The concert mainly highlighted the country's landmarks, from its spiritual birthplace Mount Paektu to the Pyongyang skyline, and economic development, with shots of factories, steel plants, and abundant fields of wheat.
In April, Kim declared the country's nuclear program a success and shifted its new strategic priority to "socialist economic construction."