BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China will strive to promote the development of relations with the Republic of Korea, said Li Changchun, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Wednesday.

    Li, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, made the remarks while meeting with Sun Hak Jyu, governor of Kyonggi Province of ROK.

    Li hailed political and economic cooperation since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

    The China-ROK trade exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2005 and the two countries cooperated in culture, education, science and technology, environment protection and the military fields.

    Li said China-ROK friendship conforms to the fundamental interests of the two peoples and appealed to local governments of the two countries to cooperate further and strengthen party-to-party contact.

    Sun spoke highly of China's economic and social development, saying China played an important role in safeguarding world peace and stability, especially on the Korean Peninsular. He appreciated China's contributions to the seeking of a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue there.

    China's growth will bring about opportunities for the development of ROK and to develop exchange and cooperation with China at all levels and in all fields is a consensus reached by all parties in ROK, Sun noted. Enditem