Invited to the reception were Thae Hyong Chol, vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, Ri Chang Gun, vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Ri Kil Song, vice-minister of foreign affairs, Pak Kyong Il, vice-chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries who is chairman of the DPRK-China Friendship Association, and other officials concerned.

Present there were Charge d'Affaires ad Interim Zhang Chenggang and members of the Chinese embassy and the visiting delegation of the Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Zhang Chenggang made a speech.

He said that it is an unshakable strategic policy of the Chinese party and government to consolidate and develop China-DPRK relations, adding that the Chinese people are rejoiced over the fact that the Korean people are achieving new successes in the building of socialist economy under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by Chairman Kim Jong Un.

Noting that this year marking the 70th anniversary of establishment of China-DPRK diplomatic relations is a year of weighty significance in the development of the relations between the two countries, he expressed the conviction that China-DPRK friendship provided by the leaders of elder generation would grow stronger as the days go by.

Thae Hyong Chol made a speech.

He stressed that President Kim Il Sung, together with Premier Zhou Enlai, signed the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, and thus provided a solid foundation to develop the DPRK-China friendship on a legal basis.

Noting that it is the fixed stand of the WPK and the government of the DPRK to steadily develop the traditional DPRK-China friendship, he hoped that the fraternal Chinese people would realize the Chinese nation's great dream of national rejuvenation under the direction of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core.

The Chinese consul general in Chongjin also hosted a reception that day on the same occasion.