SEOUL, July 4 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping ended a state visit to South Korea and left for Beijing Friday evening.

After he arrived in Seoul Thursday, Xi held a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, and the two countries issued a joint statement.

On Friday, Xi met National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa and Prime Minister Chung Hong-won respectively. He delivered a speech at Seoul National University and attended along with Park a high-level forum on bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

This was Xi's first visit to South Korea since he took office last year.