Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said this when meeting DPRK Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong who paid a courtesy call on him on March 25.

He noted that he would always remember the days he was received by General Secretary Kim Jong Il twice during his visit to the DPRK in May 2002.

He went on:

Kim Jong Il visited China twice last year. He met with General Secretary Hu Jintao and reached a consensus of view on important issues including the development of the Sino-DPRK friendly relations. As a result, there were great events and pleasant occasions in the bilateral relations.

The Sino-DPRK relations have preserved a good trend of development this year, too, he noted, adding that it is the consistent policy of the party and the government of China to steadily boost these relations.

He expressed his stand to boost the exchange of high-level delegations and deepen the strategic understanding between the two countries and expand economic and trade relations.