Present there were Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries who is chairman of the Korean City Federation, Jon Yong Jin, vice-chairman of the committee, delegates of the committee and federation, delegates of South Hwanghae Province, Kangwon Province, South Phyongan Province, Rason City, Nampho City, Hamhung City, Chongjin City, Mangyongdae District of Pyongyang which have friendly relations with cities of China and officials concerned.

A delegation of the China-Korea Friendship Association led by Chairman Wu Donghe and delegates from the provinces of Jiangxi, Shandong and Sichuan and the cities of Shanghai, Jilin, Hunchun and Changchun and Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Liu Xiaoming were also present there.

Mun Jae Chol in a report said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and China 60 years ago cities in the two countries have conducted exchange and cooperation in various fields thus making a substantial contribution to the development of the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

He referred to the fact that the friendly relations were established between Hamhung and Shanghai in 1982 and in the subsequent period friendly relations were forged between Kangwon Province and Jiangxi Province, between South Hwanghae Province and Shandong Province, between South Phyongan Province and Sichuan Province and between Mangyongdae District of Pyongyang and Jilin City of Jilin Province and other cities.

He hoped that the friendly cities would significantly decorate the "year of DPRK-China friendship" through peculiar exchanges and thus positively contribute to consolidating and developing the DPRK-China friendship, a precious treasure common to the two peoples.

Wu Donghe, speaking next, said that it is of particularly great significance to hold a friendship city meeting in Pyongyang on the occasion of "year of China-DPRK friendship," 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

He said that the exchange and cooperation between the friendly cities conducted under the deep concern of the leaders and governments of the two countries positively contributed to inheriting and developing the traditional Sino-DPRK friendship.

He sincerely hoped that the people of the DPRK would attain the grandiose goal of opening the gate to a thriving nation in 2012 as set by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

The Chinese ambassador made a congratulatory speech to be followed by speeches of delegates of the South Hwanghae Provincial People's Committee, the Mangyongdae District, Pyongyang, People's Committee, the Shandong Provincial People's Government and the Jilin City People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries of Jilin Province.

A joint press release was made public there.

The press release noted that the meeting, the first of its kind in the history of the DPRK-China friendly relations, looked back on the history and tradition of friendship and emphasized that the DPRK-China friendship is a treasure common to the two peoples as they were provided and fostered by the revolutionaries of the elder generation including President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Mao Zedong.

It said that the meeting expressed the will of the friendly cities to expand and develop exchange and cooperation on the principle of mutual benefit as expected by the top leaders of the two countries and thus positively contribute to glorifying the significant "year of DPRK-China friendship."

The Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and the Korean City Federation hosted a banquet at Chongryu Restaurant to hail the success of the meeting on the same day.