China North Korea Photo: IC

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his three-day visit to the neighboring country from Friday to Sunday, agreeing to further develop friendly relations between the two countries and exchange views on deepening cooperation.

Chinese observers said the meeting between Liu and Kim serves not only to stabilize regional peace and stability against the backdrop of the US-led West's increasingly tough sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang, but also to deepen cooperation between the two countries in key fields at a time when North Korea is gradually normalizing its border operation.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, led a Party and government delegation to North Korea to attend commemorative events marking the country's 75th founding anniversary on September 9, which fell on Saturday this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.  

Liu passed on greetings from the Chinese top leader and congratulated North Korea on its 75th founding anniversary. Speaking highly of the achievements that North Korea has made, Liu expressed wishes for a prosperous path ahead for the country, according to Xinhua. 

In meeting with Kim, the Chinese vice premier said China values the traditional friendship between the two countries and is willing to promote the continuous deepening and development of China-North Korea ties, the report said. 

Agriculture, medicines and public health are of great important to the livelihoods of the North Korean people, and China will deepen cooperation with North Korea for the well-being of the two countries, Liu told Kim. 

The high-profile Chinese delegation to North Korea highlights China's firm stance of developing friendship and its support toward North Korea amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula provoked by Western forces, Lü Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. The visit will assist in maintaining regional peace and stability, Lü said.

The Chinese vice premier's visit comes only one and a half months after Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, led a Chinese Party and government delegation to the country.

Lü said that Liu is in charge of the health and agriculture sectors in China. China deepening key cooperation fields in agriculture, medicines and public health with North Korea during his visit is within expectations.

Agricultural cooperation with North Korea likely includes more emphasis on developing high-tech agriculture, including agricultural machinery and greenhouse crops. It will help the country to alleviate chronic food shortages, Lü told the Global Times. On medicines and public health, China's cooperation is of great significance to North Korea as the country is gradually stepping out of the pandemic and reopens its borders, Lü said.

Overall, the Chinese vice premier's visit will not only deepen cooperation in key fields, but will also help to resume normal communications with Pyongyang in the post-pandemic era in trade, tourism and culture, Chinese observers noted. 

In their meeting, Kim thanked Liu for leading the Chinese delegation to visit the country which is of great importance and burnished the commemorative events for the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea. North Korea is willing to further develop friendly cooperative relations with China to enhance the well-being of the peoples of the two countries, Kim told Liu. 

Kim also wished the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics onto new and greater achievements, and that the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will surely be realized.

During his stay in North Korea, Liu also met with North Korean premier Kim Tok-hun, visited the China-North Korea Friendship Tower and Anju, a city in South Pyongan province, to visit the cemetery for martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV), mourning with deep grief the deaths of CPV martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the War to Resist the US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953).