Pyongyang, October 25 (KCNA) -- I was pleased to pay an official goodwill visit to the DPRK, said 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.

He went on:

China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors linked by the same mountain and rivers.

The friendship between the peoples of the two countries has a long history.

The two countries weathered all sorts of hardships and difficulties of history, supporting and cooperating with each other.

The Sino-DPRK friendship was provided and cultivated by revolutionaries of the elder generation.

This struck deep roots among the peoples of the two countries.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il visited China several times, making a great contribution to the development of the bilateral friendship.

The meeting between General Secretary Hu Jintao and Kim Jong Il marked a historical event which brought the relations of the two countries on to a new higher stage.

The Sino-DPRK friendship is a treasure common to the peoples of the two countries.

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.

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

While staying in the DPRK we saw the resourceful and brave Korean people achieving successes in various domains while overcoming difficulties.

The Korean people are working hard to build a thriving nation under the guidance of the Workers' Party of Korea led by Kim Jong Il.

We rejoice over our own over the achievements made by the Korean people in various fields.

We will join the DPRK side in making efforts to steadily deepen exchange and cooperation in all domains and thus bring the peoples of the two countries greater happiness.