Present at the reception on invitation were DPRK Ambassador to China Choe Jin Su and staff members of his embassy.

Present there were Chairman of the China-Korea Friendship Association Wu Donghe and officials concerned.

Speeches were made there.

Wu Donghe said that the Korean people have worked hard to open the gate to a thriving nation, steadily expand the foreign relations and promote the cause of independent and peaceful reunification by displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and fortitude, united close around the Workers' Party of Korea headed by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

He declared that the China-Korea Friendship Association would strive hard to boost the exchange and cooperation between the two countries and deepen the friendship between the two peoples in the "year of Sino-DPRK friendship", the year which greets the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the DPRK.

Choe Jin Su noted that the army and people of the DPRK would unite closer around Kim Jong Il, firmly safeguard Korean-style socialist system, vigorously accelerate the economic construction and thus surely open the gate to a thriving nation in 2012, the centenary of birth of President Kim Il Sung.

He went on:

The DPRK-China friendship is a precious legacy provided and cultivated by the leaders of the elder generation of the two countries and it is the invariable policy of the WPK and the government of the DPRK to set store by and boost the two countries' traditional friendship.

The DPRK will make positive contribution to boosting the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries by successfully ensuring the events of the "year of DPRK-China friendship", this significant year which marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.