Seoul – Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye held talks here Thursday, vowing to enrich the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership.

Xi said China and South Korea are important neighbors, close partners and good friends.

Reviewing all the substantial progress that has been made since they established diplomatic ties more than 20 years ago, the two nations have a lot to summarize, he said.

The two nations respect each other’s social system, development mode and core interests, see each other as a development opportunity, support each other’s peaceful development and jointly safeguard a peaceful and stable neighboring environment, he said.

China-South Korea relations are facing an opportunity of great development, said Xi, adding that the two sides should share development opportunities, handle the challenges together and deepen their cooperation in a comprehensive manner.

The two sides should become partners that share common development, promote regional peace and Asia’s revitalization, and boost world prosperity, he added.

Xi made a four-point proposal to enhance bilateral ties.

Regarding political security cooperation, Xi said he is willing to maintain frequent communication with Park and exchange views on major issues of common concern at any time.

The two sides should strengthen communication and enhance mutual trust through governmental, parliamentary and party-to-party communication and cooperation mechanism, Xi said.

As for economy and trade cooperation, Xi said the two sides should further expand mutual beneficial cooperation in this field.

To raise the bilateral trade volume to 300 billion U.S. dollars by 2015, the two countries should nurture new cooperation growth points in fields such as new energy, telecommunications, intelligent manufacturing, among others, said Xi. Source: Xinhua

Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) shakes hands with South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea