Present there on invitation were Wang Gang, vice－chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference who is member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Liu Hongcai, deputy head of the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, the vice-minister of Railways, Chen Jian, vice-minister of Commerce, Wu Donghe, chairman of the China－Korea Friendship Association, Hu Zhengyue, assistant to the minister of Foreign Affairs, and other officials concerned.

Choe Jin Su, DPRK ambassador to China, and staff members of his embassy were present there.

He in his speech at the reception said that Kim Jong Il has victoriously advanced the Korean revolution and construction with his experienced and tested leadership for several decades and firmly protected the fate of socialism and the national dignity and regional peace and stability with his original Songun politics and made a great contribution to boosting the traditional DPRK-China friendship.

He hoped that the Chinese people would victoriously greet the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China by registering greater successes in their efforts to establish a scientific outlook on development and achieve stable and rapid development of economy under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

Recalling that Kim Jong Il received the delegation of the International Liaison Department of the C.C., the CPC when it was visiting the DPRK recently, he expressed belief that another brilliant chapter would be recorded in the history of the DPRK-China friendship under the deep care of the top leaders of the two countries and thanks to the joint efforts of both sides.

Wang Gang noted in his speech that Kim Jong Il is respected and loved by the Korean people for having made great successes in socialist construction by leading the Party and people for a long period.

Noting that China and the DPRK are the friendly neighbors linked by the same mountain and rivers, he stressed that the friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK have steadily grown stronger in recent years under the warm care of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries.

On the occasions of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and "a year of Sino-DPRK friendship" China would boost exchange and cooperation with the DPRK in various sectors and thus infuse steady dynamism and vitality into the friendship and join the Korean people in carving out a rosier future of the Sino-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations, he added.