China's Xi Exchanges Oral Messages With North Korea's Kim - State Media

China's Xi Exchanges Oral Messages With North Korea's Kim - State Media

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un exchanged oral messages with each other during a meeting of their representatives in Beijing, Chinese state media reporte

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2021) Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un exchanged oral messages with each other during a meeting of their representatives in Beijing, Chinese state media reported.

Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, met with North Korean ambassador to China Lee Longnan in Beijing on Monday, the state-owned China Central Television reported.

During the meeting, Lee delivered Kim's oral messages to Xi and congratulated China's success in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, building a well-off society and eliminating poverty. Kim said he expected bilateral relations to be elevated further.

In his oral messages to Kim, Xi expressed hopes to maintain, solidify and improve bilateral relations with North Korea.

China is willing to work with North Korea on looking for political solutions to the issues related to the Korean Peninsula and actively contribute to safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region, Xi added.

Xi's messages with Kim marked the first exchange between the two leaders, after US President Joe Biden took office in January.

Despite meeting with Kim twice during his tenure in office, former US President Donald Trump failed to make progress in resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula after negotiations with North Korea broke down following the summit in Vietnam.

Biden expressed hopes to do a better job than his predecessor in resolving the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. But North Korea's Kim reportedly declined communication requests from the Biden administration in recent weeks.

As a long-time ally of North Korea, China has always been viewed as a critical player in the negotiations with Pyongyang and Kim made stops in Beijing to meet with Xi before his two summits with Trump.