DPRK vows to boost economic, trade co-op with China

PYONGYANG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will further strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China, the DPRK's foreign trade minister said Wednesday.

Ri Ryong Nam said the DPRK people speak highly of the achievements made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,

The minister said at a reception in the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang that he hoped the Chinese people will defeat the earthquake disaster and hold the Beijing Olympics successfully.

Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, said the China-DPRK economic and trade cooperation not only benefits the peoples of the two countries but also the development and prosperity of the regional economy.

On the basis of the principles of mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and common development, China will strengthen cooperation with the DPRK in infrastructure construction, exploration and processing of mineral resources, and frontier trade, he added.

Bilateral trade has grown steadily in recent years. The trade volume between the two countries reached 1.97 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, according to Chinese statistics, up 16.1 percent on the previous year.