Chinese state councilor meets South Korea's new president

SEOUL - Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong met ?with South Korea's newly sworn-in President Park Geun-hye on Monday and both sides pledged to further their bilateral cooperation.

Liu, a special envoy of President Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, delivered congratulatory messages to Park from the two leaders.

China has attached great importance to ties with South Korea and cooperation between the two countries has reached unprecedented heights in various fields since the establishment of bilateral ties 20 years ago, the two Chinese leaders said in their messages.

China hoped the two sides could jointly contribute to the development of their strategic cooperative partnership under new circumstances by deepening mutual understanding and trust and promoting communications and cooperation in all areas, they said.

Liu said China hoped the two countries, now at a new starting point, could strengthen strategic communications to cement firm political and strategic mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation to ultimately realize win-win results, and expand people-to-people exchanges to promote their shared history, culture and traditional values.

For her part, Park said South Korea and China have a lot in common concerning the goals of development. She said her administration is dedicated in the happiness of the people, while China has pledged to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society by 2020.

She hoped South Korea and China could foster closer relations by expanding cooperation in such areas as politics, trade and economy and culture on the basis of mutual understanding.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional issues. The Chinese state councilor said China is committed to safeguarding peace and stability and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

China called on all relative parties to solve the problems through dialogue and consultation due to the complexity and sensitivity of the situation, Liu said.

China appreciated Park's pledge to seek the "trust-building process" between the two sides of the Korean Peninsula, and would continue to make efforts for achieving lasting stability of the peninsula, Liu said.

Liu also attended the inauguration ceremony of Park who was swore in on Monday as South Korea's first female president.