Chinese president meets ROK parliament speaker

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Chung Ui-hwa, speaker of the National Assembly for the Republic of Korea(ROK), in Beijing, China, Dec. 18, 2014. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, Dec. 18 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Chung Ui-hwa, speaker of the National Assembly for the Republic of Korea(ROK), on Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi said China attaches great importance to the ties with the ROK and the bilateral relationship always occupies an important position in China's neighborhood diplomacy.

Hailing the smooth development of the bilateral relationship, Xi said he hopes the two sides will work together to implement the new consensus reached between him and ROK President Park Geun-hye last month in Beijing.

Xi met with Park in November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting and they announced the substantive conclusion of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.

On Thursday, Xi called for joint efforts of both sides to push ahead with the unsettled work to finish all FTA negotiations at an early date.

He also looks forward to closer fiscal and financial cooperation and more people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, highlighting the Year of Chinese Tourism in ROK in 2015 and the Year of ROK Tourism in China in 2016.

Xi said China stands ready to work with the ROK to boost interactions between the governments, legislatures, and political parties as well as on sub-national levels of the two sides to enhance the bilateral strategic partnership and benefit the people of the two countries.

He said legislative exchanges play an important part in the bilateral relationship and he hopes the Chinese National People's Congress will continue to cooperate with the ROK National Assembly to improve the bilateral ties in a sustained way.

Extending his best wishes for China's development, Chung said the ROK National Assembly will step up exchanges with the NPC and make efforts to ensure the implementation of the consensus reached by the two presidents to enhance the bilateral relationship.

Chung is on his first visit to China as the ROK's parliament speaker. He will conclude his five-day China tour on Sunday.