Pyongyang, October 23 (KCNA) -- The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the DPRK government gave a banquet in honor of Li Keqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the C.C., the Communist Party of China and vice-premier of the State Council of China, on an official goodwill visit to the DPRK at the People's Palace of Culture on Sunday.

Present there on invitation were You Quan, deputy secretary-general of the State Council, Zhang Zhijun, executive vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Chen Yuan, managing director of the China Development Bank, Liu Hongcai, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, Liu Jieyi, deputy head of the International Liaison Department of the C.C., CPC, Liu Tienan, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Committee, Chen Jian, vice-minister of Commerce, Ning Jizhe, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the State Council, and other suite members and staff members of the Chinese embassy here.

DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK, Vice-Premier Ro Tu Chol who doubles chairman of the State Planning Commission, Kim Song Nam, vice department director of the C.C., WPK, Kim Song Gi, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Ku Pon Thae, vice-minister of Foreign Trade, Ri Yong Sok, deputy director of the Secretariat of the Cabinet, and officials concerned were on hand.

Ro Tu Chol said in his speech at the banquet that the DPRK-China friendship is developing vigorously on a new higher stage under the deep care of the top leaders of the two countries.

The top leaders of the two countries, at their historic meetings and talks held several times, promised to develop the traditional DPRK-China friendship generation after generation, thus providing a new milestone for the bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation, he said.

It is the fixed stand of the WPK and the DPRK government to develop the DPRK-China friendly and cooperative relations steadily in an all-round way, he declared.

We, together with Chinese comrades, will do best to further strengthen the unbreakable unity and sincere cooperation and preserve the regional peace and stability by joint efforts.

Li Keqiang said in his speech that the Korean people have worked hard to build a thriving nation under the leadership of the WPK led by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

He sincerely wished the fraternal Korean people greater success in various fields.

The party and government of China attach utmost importance to the Sino-DPRK friendship which stood the test of history and greatly set store by it, he added.

He expressed the will to join the Korean comrades in consolidating and steadily developing the friendly and cooperative relations onto a new stage in the spirit of the agreement reached between the top leaders of the two countries on the basis of "inheriting the tradition, facing up to the future, building good-neighborly friendship and strengthening cooperation."