Present there on invitation were the members of the delegation, Liu Hongcai, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, and staff members of the embassy here.

Present there were Kim Ki Nam, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the WPK Central Committee, Kim Yong Il, alternate member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., and other officials of the C.C., the WPK including Vice-Department Directors Ri Yong Sik and Kim Song Nam.

Kim Ki Nam in his speech said the CPC delegation's visit to the DPRK is an expression of the steadfast stand of the new collective leadership of China to value and further develop the traditional DPRK-China friendship forged by the leaders of elder generations of the two countries.

He said he was pleased with the fact that the 18th National Congress of the CPC was successfully held and Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the CPC.

It is the invariable will of the WPK and the DPRK government to steadily develop the DPRK-China relations of friendship and cooperation, he said.

He expressed the belief that the Chinese people would successfully fulfill the tasks set forth in the national congress and make fresh successes in the work for promoting prosperity of China under the leadership of the CPC.

Li Jianguo said in his speech that it is an expression of the will to boost the relations between the two parties and the two countries that the dear respected Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the WPK, sent a congratulatory message to Xi Jinping upon his election as the general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the CPC.

He expressed a firm stand to develop the traditional Sino-DPRK friendship together with the DPRK side in the spirit of inheriting the tradition, facing up to the future, building good-neighborly friendship and strengthening cooperation.

He said he was pleased with the fact that the Korean people closely united around the WPK headed by First Secretary Kim Jong Un have achieved fresh successes in various fields.

He expressed his conviction that the diligent and sagacious Korean people would accomplish the cause of building a thriving nation under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Un.