Xinhua reported on the 8th that Kim Jong-un, Chairman of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged views on international and regional affairs over a banquet.

According to the report, the banquet was held at 7 p.m. that day at Mokran Hall, Pyongyang’s state banquet venue. Xinhua said the banquet began as all attendees stood and applauded when President Xi and Madam Peng Liyuan, and Chairman Kim and Madam Ri Sol-ju entered side by side.

Xi said China and North Korea are neighbors linked by mountains and rivers and share a common destiny. Noting that this year marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of the North Korea-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, he said, “Bilateral relations stand at a new starting point.”

Xi said, “Through this visit, General Secretary Kim Jong-un of the (Workers’ Party of Korea) and I unanimously agreed that, from a strategic perspective focused on the future and destiny of socialism, we should grasp the trend of the times, strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, and reinforce people-to-people and civilian ties, so as to promote the higher-level development of China-North Korea relations, jointly open a brighter future for the socialist cause of both countries, and contribute to the sustained development of human society.”

This reiterated the four principles for developing North Korea-China relations that Xi mentioned at the summit earlier that day.

Kim said, “In a meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping of the (Communist Party of China) after nine months, we reached a new agreement to develop North Korea-China relations that carries new significance in light of the changing circumstances of the times.” Kim also said, “The two countries exchanged extensive views on international and regional issues of shared concern.”

Kim said, “This meeting will accelerate the development of North-South friendly relations with a deep historical tradition and contribute to regional and global peace and stability,” adding, “The Korean people sincerely rejoice at the great achievements of the brotherly Chinese people, and believe that, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China with General Secretary Xi Jinping at its core, the great Chinese people will achieve even greater success in all respects in building a modern socialist country, achieving the ‘Two Centenary Goals’, and completing the new journey of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The ‘Two Centenary Goals’ refers to the Chinese Communist Party’s development objectives to achieve, by the 100th anniversary of the party’s founding in 2021 and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of New China in 2049, a comprehensively xiaokang society (a society in which all the people are well-off across the board) and socialist modernization, respectively.