Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets at the Great Hall of the People with the Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Myung-bak, who is here for the second trilateral leaders' meeting of China, ROK and Japan

On October 10, 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met at the Great Hall of the People with the Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Myung-bak, who is here for the second trilateral leaders' meeting of China, ROK and Japan.

Wen said China was glad to see the two countries' friendly cooperative relationship was growing in an all-round and fast way. As the current international and regional situation is undergoing profound changes, it serves the two countries' fundamental interests and is important to the regional peace, stability and development for the two countries to boost strategic communication, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and upgrade strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level in broader areas, Wen said.

Wen said China and the ROK have made concerted efforts to overcome the negative impact of the international financial crisis. China-ROK trade exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months this year. "It is a hard-won achievement," Wen said. He said he hoped the two countries could continue with the effective measures to expand cooperation area, jointly oppose trade and investment protectionism, encourage and guide enterprises to carry out exchanges, boost mutual investment and engage in strategic cooperation in the global market in a bid to push bilateral economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

Lee said the Chinese government has actively responded to the global financial crisis and maintained a steady and relatively fast growth of its own economy. China has played an important role in maintaining bilateral trade and promoting an early recovery of this region's economy. Lee said the ROK paid much attention to strengthening the strategic partnership with China and hoped to expand exchanges and cooperation with China in trade and humanities.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula situation. Wen said there were many positive interactions between the ROK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including official contacts and humanitarian cooperation, showing sings of detente on the South-North relationship. Wen said the Chinese side appreciated the active efforts made by the ROK in the regard. The Chinese side believed the ROK and the DPRK were from the same ancestral origin and belonged to the same nationality and the reconciliation and cooperation were the trend and aspiration of the public. The improvement of the South-North relationship was very meaningful to promoting the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and realizing lasting peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

Lee said the ROK attached importance to improving the South-North relationship and such a stance remained unchanged. Lee said not long ago he met with a delegation from the DPRK to mourn former ROK president Kim Dae Jung in Seoul, which sent out positive signals. He said the ROK would continue with efforts to improve the relationship between the ROK and the DPRK and maintain peace and stability on the peninsula.