BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, on Wednesday exchanged congratulatory messages over the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and South Korea are permanent neighbors facing each other across the sea, and the people of the two countries enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges.

Since China and South Korea established diplomatic ties 30 years ago, the two countries' relations, with joint efforts of both sides, have kept pace with the times, developed in an all-round way and achieved fruitful results, which has brought great benefits to the two countries and their people, and also made significant contributions to regional and world peace and development, Xi pointed out.

The past 30 years have witnessed great changes in the world, as well as fruitful achievements, Xi pointed out, adding that the reason that China and South Korea have made such remarkable accomplishments in their relations is that the two sides stick to looking ahead with a long-term perspective, following the trend of the times and enriching bilateral ties continuously.

It is because the two countries respect and trust each other, accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, and enhance understanding and trust through sincere communication, Xi said.

Xi noted that another reason for the remarkable achievements is that the two countries adhere to cooperation and win-win outcomes, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, as well as exchanges and mutual learning, so as to achieve mutual success and common prosperity.

It is also because the two countries have insisted on openness and inclusiveness, and have worked together to safeguard regional peace and stability, promote regional integrated development, and preserve the basic norms governing international relations, Xi said, adding that those valuable experience above should be cherished with greater care and adhered to on a long-term basis.

At present, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation under the combined impact of global changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, both unseen in a century. At this critical moment, the international community, including China and South Korea, can only overcome crises and tide over difficulties through solidarity and cooperation, said Xi, adding that the two countries should be good neighbors, good friends and good partners.

Noting that he attaches great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations, Xi said he would like to strengthen strategic communication with Yoon and guide the two countries to take the 30th anniversary as a new starting point while grasping the general trend, eliminating disturbances, consolidating friendship and focusing on cooperation, so as to jointly create an even better future of bilateral relations and bring more benefits to the two countries and their people.

In his congratulatory message, Yoon extended warm congratulations on the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and China.

Noting that South Korea and China are geographically close and enjoy time-honored historical and cultural ties, he said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, bilateral cooperation in such fields as politics, economy and culture has witnessed leapfrog development, and the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries has been continuously consolidated.

The South Korean president also noted that largely thanks to the efforts of all sectors of the two countries and the support of their people, the annual trade volume between the two countries has increased by nearly 50 times, personnel exchanges by dozens of times, and colorful cultural exchanges have enhanced mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.

Recalling his phone talks with Xi on March 25 when they reached important consensus on taking the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic ties as an opportunity to push for new development of South Korea-China relations, Yoon expressed his hope that the two sides will explore new directions of cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and push for the development of bilateral relations towards a more mature and healthier direction.

To this end, Yoon said, it is hoped that the two sides will maintain close high-level exchanges and strengthen substantive cooperation in areas including economic security, such as supply chains, environment and climate change, so as to achieve tangible results for the people of the two countries.

It is also hoped that the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties will further promote the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries and deepen the friendship between the people of the two nations, he added.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also exchanged congratulatory message with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

China and South Korea are permanent close neighbors that cannot move away, and are also inseparable partners, said Li.

The Chinese side is ready to work with South Korea to take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as a new starting point to enhance mutual understanding and trust, deepen exchanges and cooperation, and push for a sound and steady development of China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership for new and greater achievements, said Li.

Han Duck-soo noted that since the establishment of the new government of South Korea, the two countries have maintained close communication and exchanges.

It is hoped that the two sides will further intensify high-level exchanges, strengthen cooperation in supply chains, culture and environmental protection, speed up the second-phase of the free trade agreement negotiations between the two sides, and push for better development of bilateral relations, he added.

(Source: Xinhua)