Reception Given to Mark 65th Anniversary of Conclusion of DPRK-China Treaty

Pyongyang, July 17 (KCNA) -- A reception was given at Yanggakdo International Hotel on Thursday to mark the 65th anniversary of the conclusion of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance.

Present there were a party and government delegation of the People's Republic of China on an official goodwill visit to the DPRK.

Pak Thae Song, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, vice-president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and premier of the Cabinet, made a speech at the reception.

He said that the visit to the DPRK by the party and government delegation of the PRC marked a significant occasion in splendidly commemorating the 65th anniversary of the conclusion of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance and demonstrating the strategic character of the treaty and the vitality of the DPRK-China friendship.

He said that the DPRK-China friendship has entered a new stage of development in various fields under the direct guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, expressing the steadfast stand of the WPK and the DPRK government to steadily develop the friendly and cooperative relations with socialism as the core.

He expressed the will to firmly join hands with the Chinese comrades as ever in the course of actively promoting the co-prosperity and new development of friendship of the two countries, opposing hegemonism and victoriously advancing the socialist cause.

Next, Wang Huning, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made a speech.

He said that the treaty is an important legal foundation for the development of the friendly relations between the two countries, adding that the peoples of the two countries have shared life and death and formed great militant friendship at the cost of blood in the struggle for achieving national independence and the liberation of the countries.

He said it is a vivid feature of the relations between China and the DPRK that they support and cooperate with each other, share destiny and protect and help each other, adding that Comrade General Secretary Xi Jinping and Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong Un met seven times to lead the traditional China-DPRK friendship to open a new chapter of history.

He said that the firm stand of the Chinese party and government placing great importance on China-DPRK friendship will remain unchanged and the firm support for the cause of Korean socialism led by Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong Un will never be changed, adding that the Chinese side will, together with the DPRK side, hold aloft the banner of socialism and ensure that the baton of Chinese-DPRK friendship is handed down through generations.

The participants in the reception toasted the eternal DPRK-China friendship and prosperity of the two countries.

A performance was given by the Ensemble of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK.

The reception proceeded in a comradely and friendly atmosphere. -0-