China, ROK vow to boost bilateral ties

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday underlined the importance for the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to constantly improve relations and advance the peace process for the Korean Peninsula despite outside interference.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with ROK President Moon Jae-in as he paid an official visit to the country.

The ROK was the last leg of Wang's six-day visit that concluded on Wednesday. The four-nation trip had brought him to Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.

Wang said that peace on the peninsula is hard-won and should be cherished by all parties with special care. Despite the complicated changes of the situation, the aspiration for peace on the peninsula should never be abandoned and efforts to strive for it should never stop, he added.

He said that China firmly supports the ROK and the DPRK in overcoming difficulties and getting rid of interferences in order to improve their relations.

China will continue to play a constructive role in maintaining the peace and stability on the peninsula and establishing lasting peace in the region, he said.

Moon said that his country appreciated China's contribution for maintaining the peace on the peninsula and expected China to continue to play a constructive role in realizing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

As next year will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK, Wang called on the two sides to reflect upon the past development of bilateral ties and jointly plan for the future of bilateral cooperation.

It has been revealed over the past three decades that the two countries should respect each other's development path and their core interests and concerns, and focus on cooperation to benefit their peoples, he said.

According to Wang, the annual two-way trade between the two countries has exceeded $300 billion and the volume of mutual investment has exceeded $1 trillion. Tens of millions of two-way visits are made by the people in both countries every year.

Common interests

During the meeting with his ROK counterpart Chung Euiyong on Wednesday, Wang urged the two countries to keep expanding common interests, tap the potential for more cooperation and elevate bilateral ties to achieve more sustainable development against the background of changes unseen in a century, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Noting that both countries are supporters of multilateralism and a free-trade system, he called on the two countries to strengthen cooperation on global issues such as climate change within multilateral frameworks including the United Nations.

Chung said the ROK supports international cooperation on the COVID-19 origins tracing work by upholding the principles of openness and transparency, and opposes the politicization of studies into the virus' origins.

The two sides also agreed to establish a regular communication mechanism between the two foreign ministers and hold a new round of high-level strategic dialogue between the foreign ministries and the ministries' security departments.