Present there on invitation were Yang Hyong Sop, vice-chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, Choe Chang Sik, minister of Public Heath and chairman of the Central Committee of the DPRK-China Friendship Association, Kim Thae Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Pak Jae Gyong, vice-minister of the People's Armed Forces, Kim Yong Il, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Paek Yong Ho, vice-chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and officials concerned.

Hao Xiaofei made an address at the reception.

She said that the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed by Premier Zhou Enlai and President Kim Il Sung laid a foundation for developing the friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK.

She noted that the two countries have made a positive contribution to boosting the exchange and cooperation in various fields, promoting the cause of socialism and the people's well-being and protecting the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of Northeast Asia, guided by the spirit of the treaty.

The Korean people are now waging a vigorous 150-day campaign, while effecting a fresh great surge in order to open up the gate to a great prosperous and powerful nation in 2012 under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il, she noted, hoping that the Korean people would register new successes in the construction in the future, too.

Choe Chang Sik said in his speech that the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed by President Kim Il Sung together with Premier Zhou Enlai provided a legal foundation to developing the bilateral relations between the two countries in all fields.

He referred to the fact that the Chinese people have achieved successes in building a harmonious socialist society based on the viewpoint of scientific development under the leadership of the Communist Party of China led by General Secretary Hu Jintao.

It is the consistent policy of the Party and government of the DPRK to steadily boost the DPRK- China friendly and cooperative relations, he said, adding that the DPRK would make positive efforts to do so in the future, too.