Close ROK ties highlighted

President Xi Jinping has underlined the need for Beijing and Seoul to stand firm on the right side of history and make correct strategic choices amid the transformation and turbulence of the international landscape.

Xi made the remarks on Monday during his talks with Republic of Korea President Lee Jae-myung at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

With a large business delegation, Lee started a four-day state visit to China on Sunday, the first since he took office in June and the first trip by an ROK president to China since 2019. Xi held a grand welcoming ceremony for him before their official talks.

Xi said that both China and the ROK bear important responsibilities in maintaining regional peace and promoting global development, and they have broad common interests.

Over 80 years ago, China and the ROK made great national sacrifices to achieve victory in the battle against Japanese militarism, and today, they should join hands to safeguard the outcomes of World War II and protect peace and stability in Northeast Asia, he said.

Noting that China and the ROK are beneficiaries of economic globalization, he underscored the need for them to jointly oppose protectionism, practice true multilateralism, and contribute to advancing an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

Xi highlighted the close economic ties between the two countries, saying they have developed deeply intertwined industrial and supply chains and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The two countries should strengthen the alignment of development strategies and policy coordination, expand their shared interests, and create more cooperation achievements in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, green industries and the silver economy, he said.

Xi noted that China always places its relationship with the ROK as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and maintains consistency and stability in its policy toward the ROK.

He emphasized that both countries are peace-loving and have long adhered to the principles of "harmony without uniformity", and they have transcended differences in social systems and ideologies to achieve mutual success and common development.

Both sides should continue this fine tradition, continuously enhance mutual trust, respect each other's development paths of their own choice, accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, and resolve differences through dialogue and consultation, Xi said.

China is willing to work with the ROK to firmly hold on to the direction of friendly cooperation, uphold the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and promote their strategic cooperative partnership along a healthy trajectory in order to enhance the well-being of the two peoples and contribute to regional and global peace and development, Xi said.

Lee said that his country attaches great importance to its relationship with China and wishes to use this first head-of-state diplomacy of the new year as an opportunity to consolidate the momentum of the comprehensive recovery and development of ROK-China relations and jointly open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations.

The ROK respects China's core interests and major concerns and adheres to the one-China principle, he said, emphasizing the important role of economic and trade ties between the two countries.

After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of 15 cooperation documents in fields such as scientific and technological innovation, the environment, transportation, and economic and trade cooperation.

The talks followed the leaders' meeting in Gyeongju in early November, when Xi made a state visit to the ROK and attended the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders'Meeting.

Observers said that China and the ROK, two major economies in the Asia-Pacific region, face a shared responsibility to promote stability and confidence in the region. Lee's China visit offers an opportunity to consolidate the positive trajectory of bilateral ties and chart a clearer course for the future, they said.

Economic ties continue to serve as the cornerstone of the countries' relationship. For over two decades, China has been the ROK's largest trading partner, while the ROK stands as one of China's most important economic partners.

Lee Chang-ho, chairman of the civil group Korea-China Exchange Promotion Committee, told China Daily that it is important for the ROK and China to jointly enhance the strategic role of building peace in Northeast Asia through the institutionalization of regular shuttle diplomacy between the two countries.

Contact the writers at caodesheng@chinadaily.com.cn