BEIJING — Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang's current official goodwill visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will boost the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two nations, a senior Chinese official said Sunday.

China and the DPRK are good neighbors linked by mountains and rivers. Their people have maintained friendly contacts for thousands of years and forged a profound friendship, said Liu Jieyi, vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, in a written interview with Chinese media.

The China-DPRK relations have weathered the test of changes on the international arena and developed steadily since the two nations established diplomatic relations 62 years ago, said Liu.

With their joint efforts, the two sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in various areas, and their friendly and cooperative ties have ushered in a new stage, he said.

Politically, the two sides have conducted frequent high-level exchanges. Top DPRK leader Kim Jong-il have paid four visits to China since May 2010, said Liu.

During his stay in China, Kim carried out in-depth exchanges of views with President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders on issues of common concern and reached broad consensus, mapping out the course for and injecting fresh vigor into the development of bilateral ties, he said.

On the economic front, practical cooperation has been expanding.

In 2010, the two-way trade volume jumped 29.6 percent year-on-year to a record high of $3.47 billion, he said, adding that the figure amounted to $3.64 billion in the first eight months of 2011, an 82.2-percent rise from the same period a year earlier.

The two sides are also getting along well with cooperative projects, such as the two economic zones, a copper mine and a new bridge across the Yalu River.

People-to-people exchanges have also been increasingly active with the realization of regular mutual visits of youths and delegations of young diplomats from both sides, he said.

China and the DPRK have also maintained close contacts and coordination on international and regional affairs and played a positive role in safeguarding regional peace and stability, said the senior CPC official.

Applauding the DPRK's positive efforts to ease the situation on the Korean Peninsula and improve its external environments, China is of the opinion that various parties concerned need to make continued efforts to safeguard peace and stability on the peninsula and realize its denuclearization, Liu said.

He added that they also need to make positive efforts to ease the current tension on the peninsula and resume the Six-Party Talks at an early date.

The China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations are now facing a fresh opportunity for further development.

China stands ready to work with the DPRK to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of both nations, continue to enhance high-level exchanges and promote their traditional friendship, Liu said.

Long-term peace and stability as well as development and prosperity in the northeastern Asian region, which serves the interests of various parties concerned, are also their common responsibility, he said.

The ever-developing China-DPRK friendly relations and their increasingly-expanding exchanges and cooperation are conducive to regional peace and stability and common development, Liu said.

The CPC official voiced hope that various parties concerned will take the whole situation into account, overcome current difficulties, hold dialogues and keep contacts, in a bid to help the peninsular develop in the right direction and build a harmonious northeast Asia with long-lasting peace and common prosperity.