Present there were Choe Jin Su, DPRK ambassador to China, and officials of his embassy and Liu Hongcai, deputy head of the ILD of the C.C., the CPC, and other officials of the department.

Speeches were made there.

The DPRK ambassador referred to the fact that last year functions commemorating the "year of the DPRK-China friendship" were held and visits by high-level delegations took place between the two countries and friendship and cooperation were successfully conducted in various fields under the care of their top leaders.

It is the consistent stand of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK to steadily develop the DPRK-China friendship, he said, expressing the will to continue boosting the friendly and cooperative relations between the two parties and countries in the new year, too.

The deputy head of the above-said department of the C.C., the CPC, noted that last year the Korean people made remarkable successes in the 150-day and 100-day campaigns by effecting a new great revolutionary surge under the leadership of Kim Jong Il.

He expressed belief that both sides would closely cooperate with each other to put the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries onto a higher stage this year, too.

Meanwhile, the DPRK embassy in Beijing arranged a reception for officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China on Jan. 14 and the DPRK consulate general in Shenyang hosted a reception for officials in charge of foreign affairs of the Liaoning Provincial People's Government on Jan. 15.