Xi congratulates Kim on reelection

President says choice shows trust in DPRK top leader from party, people

President Xi Jinping congratulated Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, on Friday on his reelection as chairman of the State Affairs Commission, and called for working with him to promote bilateral ties.

In the message, Xi extended his warm congratulations and sincere wishes to Kim, and said Kim's reelection demonstrates the trust in and support for him from the DPRK's party and people.

The first session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly, which was held in Pyongyang on Thursday, chose Kim for the post because of "his outstanding ideological and theoretical wisdom and experienced and seasoned leadership," the Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday.

Kim was first elected as chairman of the State Affairs Commission in 2016 at the 13th Supreme People's Assembly. The assembly is the DPRK's top legislature.

Xi lauded the new progress that Pyongyang has continuously achieved in economic and social development in recent years under Kim's leadership, saying that the DPRK's socialist cause has entered a new, historic stage.

Under the guidance of the new strategies and policies that Kim has defined, Xi said, the people of the DPRK will have new, greater achievements in national construction and development.

Xi said China and the DPRK are two friendly neighbors that share common mountains and rivers, and he considers the traditional friendship and cooperative relationship between the two countries to be very important.

He recalled his four meetings with Kim starting last year and the important consensuses they reached during those meetings, and said they have opened a new chapter for China-DPRK relations.

Xi said he stands ready to work with Kim, using the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations as an opportunity to further advance China-DPRK ties so as to deliver more benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

During Thursday's session, Choe Ryong-hae was elected president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and also first vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission, and Kim Jae-ryong, replacing Pak Pong-ju, was elected premier of the DPRK Cabinet, according to the KCNA report.

Since early 2018, Kim has embarked on a push for economic development and international engagement, including historic summits with the leaders of the Republic of Korea and the United States. He has met Xi four times since then, with the latest meeting in January.

During their meetings, Xi and Kim reached a series of consensuses, and agreed to make joint efforts to push for the development of bilateral ties in the new era and advance the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue.