China's Xi tells N. Korea's Kim to bolster 'strategic guidance' over bilateral ties

New Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun, fourth from left, delivering a message from President Xi Jinping for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Kim Song-nam, second from right, international department director of the North's ruling party, April 7, in this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. Yonhap

Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the two nations should bolster "strategic guidance" over bilateral ties, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday.

The remarks came as Kim received a message from Xi as the Chinese leader thanked the North Korean leader for congratulating him on his reelection as president of China, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In the message, Xi "attaches great importance to the relations between the two parties and two countries, expressing his willingness to accelerate the development of the socialist cause of the two countries and promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity by strengthening the strategic guidance" over the China-DPRK relations," the KCNA reported in an English-language dispatch.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

New Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun, who began his official activities earlier this week, delivered the message to Kim Song-nam, international department director of the Central Committee of the North's ruling party, according to the KCNA.

Wang's arrival came amid speculation that the North will soon resume trade with China following years of the closure of their mutual border because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)