Senior Chinese diplomat talks with South Korean national security advisor over phone

BEIJING -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, held a phone conversation on Thursday with Kim Sung-han, director of the National Security Office of South Korea.

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said China and South Korea are both close neighbors and important cooperative partners, adding that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, China has worked hand in hand with successive South Korean governments, and bilateral relations have achieved leapfrog development.

Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol, China-South Korea relations had a smooth start since the establishment of the new South Korean government, Yang said.

The senior Chinese diplomat noted that China is willing to work with South Korea to well implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, maintain close communication at all levels, deepen practical cooperation, strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism, properly handle sensitive issues, so as to improve and upgrade the two countries' relations toward a stable and long-term development.

Kim said the new government of South Korea attaches great importance to developing relations with China, and is ready to work together with China and take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to open a new era of bilateral cooperation.

The two sides also exchanged views on the affairs of the Korean Peninsula and other issues of common concern.