Present there on invitation were Mu Hong, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Sun Weidong, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, officials of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and other officials concerned.

Present there were DPRK Ambassador to China Ri Ryong Nam and his embassy members.

Speeches were made there.

Ri Ryong Nam referred to the sacred life of Chairman Kim Jong Il who devoted himself to the prosperity of the country, happiness of the people and development of the DPRK-China friendship.

He said that it is the firm stand of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK to develop the DPRK-China friendship generation after generation as required by the new era, true to the noble intention of the leaders of the two parties and two countries.

He expressed belief that the Chinese people would achieve greater success in the efforts to realize the dream of the Chinese nation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China with General Secretary Xi Jinping as its core this year marking the 75th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Mu Hong said that the great Comrade Kim Jong Il was an outstanding leader of the DPRK and a close friend of the Chinese people, adding that the Chinese people still remember his immortal contribution to the development of the China-DPRK relations.

The China-DPRK friendship, a common precious wealth provided and cultivated by the leaders of the elder generation of the two parties and two countries, has been developed by General Secretary Xi Jinping and General Secretary Kim Jong Un in recent years, he said.

He expressed the stand of the Chinese side to promote the steady development of the China-DPRK relations by steadfastly implementing the important common understanding of the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, giving play to the traditional friendship with the "year of China-DPRK friendship" as a momentum and boosting mutual-benefit cooperation while deepening strategic communication.

The DPRK consulate general in Shenyang, China, too, hosted a reception on the same day.