On the afternoon of March 19, 2009, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao met at the Great Hall of the People with the Premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Yong Il.

Hu reviewed 60 years of China-DPRK ties, saying the friendship, initiated and fostered by the older generation of leaders, had withstood the test of international and domestic changes. "The friendship, which has kept developing, has become the common treasure of both nations," Hu said. Hu noted the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government attach great importance to ties with the DPRK. China would like to work with the DPRK for better good-neighborly, friendly cooperation under the principle of "inheriting tradition, aiming at the future, good-neighborly and friendly relations, and enhancing cooperation”. He urged both sides to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and the China-DPRK Friendship Year to carry forward the traditional friendship, enhance friendly exchanges, deepen strategic communication and promote substantive cooperation for a stronger bilateral relationship.

Kim said the DPRK people were happy about the significant achievements the Chinese people had made in economic and social development. Kim hailed the deeply rooted DPRK-China friendship. "under the care of the leaders of both countries, DPRK-China relations have developed soundly in recent years," Kim said. It is an unswerving policy of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government to develop traditional friendly cooperation with China and carry forward the bilateral traditional friendship from generation to generation. "The DPRK will, as always, make unremitting efforts to cement and develop friendly cooperative ties with China," he said.

On the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Hu said a challenge confronting all parties concerned was how to overcome the current difficulties and resume the six-party talks at an early date. "We hope all parties concerned will take the overall situation into consideration and properly resolve the differences in a bid to promote the further progress of the talks," Hu said. China is ready to make joint efforts with the DPRK and other parties concerned to this end.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and other officials attended the meeting.