China's Xi, in message to Kim, says ready to deepen strategic communication with N. Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, holdshands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their talks Sept. 4, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 5. Yonhap
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message Tuesday to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the North's national founding anniversary, saying Beijing is ready to strengthen strategic communication with Pyongyang, according to the North's state media.
The message was delivered as North Korea marks the 77th anniversary of its national founding on Sept. 9, 1948, by the current leader's grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
"The Chinese side is ready to join hands in promoting the China-DPRK friendship and the socialist cause of the two countries through the intensified strategic communication and brisk visits and close cooperation with the DPRK side," Xi told Kim, according to the KCNA.
"It is the consistent and steadfast strategic policy of the Chinese party and government to successfully defend, consolidate and develop the China-DPRK relations," the KCNA quoted Xi as saying.
DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Xi also referred to his joint appearance with Kim at last week's military parade in Beijing, noting that they "jointly presented a blueprint for the development of the relations" between the two countries.
The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's most widely read newspaper, also carried Xi's message in full on its front page Tuesday.
The message came a week after Kim traveled to China to attend the military parade last Wednesday commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, marking his first trip to China in more than six years.
Holding talks the next day, Kim and Xi affirmed their countries' "common destiny" and pledged joint efforts to safeguard common interests, signaling a full-fledged restoration of bilateral ties strained by Pyongyang's military alignment with Moscow.
In a sign of improved relations, Zhang Qingwei, vice chairman of China's parliamentary standing committee, attended a reception at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing the previous day, commemorating the anniversary, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.
Zhang and North Korean Ambassador Ri Ryong-nam delivered congratulatory addresses and exchanged views on bilateral relations in a friendly atmosphere, the report said.
It marked the first public disclosure of a Chinese official attending North Korea's national founding anniversary reception since 2023.