North Korea, China commit to bolster ties in Beijing talks, KCNA says

North Korean and Chinese officials met this week in Beijing and committed to further develop bilateral ties, North Korean media said on Saturday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its diplomatic engagement after COVID-19 lockdowns.

In the meeting on Thursday, Wang Huning, China's fourth-ranked leader, "said that no matter how the international situation may change, the China-DPRK friendship, a strategic choice of both sides, will never waver," KCNA said, using North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping met early this year and vowed closer ties.

At Thursday's meeting, Wang conveyed Xi's "heartfelt, warm" message to Kim, KCNA said.

North Korea's Kim Song Nam, an alternate member of the Political Bureau and director of the International Department of the ruling party's Central Committee, part of a delegation visiting Asian countries this week, also met with Liu Jianchao, who leads the Chinese Communist Party's body in charge of managing ties with foreign political parties.