Choe Thae-bok, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), met in Pyongyang Monday with Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on bilateral ties and cooperation.

Choe spoke highly of the traditional friendship between China and North Korea, saying his country is willing to work with China to further bilateral relations.

Choe congratulated the CPC once again on convening its 17th national congress and expressed sincere gratitude to the new central leadership of the CPC for thinking highly of North Korea-China relations.

The cooperation and exchanges between North Korea and China are developing in an all-round way thanks to the joint efforts made by the leaders of the two countries, said Liu, who is also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

The new central leadership of the CPC, under the leadership of Chinese President Hu Jintao, treasures and highly regards the time-honored friendship between two countries, said Liu.

China, as always, will make continued efforts to deepen its friendly cooperation with North Korea to make a bigger contribution to the sustained peace and common prosperity of the region, Liu said.

Liu arrived here Monday for a two-day visit under the invitation of the WPK.

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2007)