Present there on invitation were members of the DPRK government cultural delegation headed by Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Choe Jin Su, DPRK ambassador to China, and staff members of his embassy.

Cai Wu, minister of Culture of China, and officials concerned were present there.

Cai Wu said in his speech at the reception that cooperation and exchange between the two countries have steadily gained depth in all fields including culture, science and technology, sports, education, public health and media and cooperation in the cultural field has become an important component of the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

He referred to the fact that the Korean people are waging a dynamic struggle to build a great prosperous and powerful socialist nation under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

He affirmed that the Ministry of Culture of China would join the DPRK in boosting friendship, promoting exchange and deepening cooperation through diverse activities with the "year of Sino-DPRK friendship" as a momentum and thus carve out a more beautiful future of the Sino-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations.

Mun Jae Chol said that the two countries have achieved many successes in exchange and cooperation in the cultural field for the past 50 years since the conclusion of the agreement.

He expressed expectation that the 2009-2011 working plan for cultural exchange signed this time would contribute to adorning the "year of DPRK-China friendship" more beautifully and promoting cultural exchange and cooperation between the two countries.

It is the consistent stand of the DPRK government and the common desire of the two peoples to steadily boost the DPRK-China friendly and cooperative relations, he said, expressing the will to make strenuous efforts to do so.