BEIJING (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is rich in content, weighty in outcome and significant in meaning, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), during a meeting in Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK, Oct. 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Fan Rujun) Photo Gallery>>>

    Yang, who accompanied the premier on his visit to the DPRK from Oct. 4 to Oct. 6, made the remarks when Wen's delegation was flying back to Beijing from Pyongyang.

    Yang stressed that the three-day visit had achieved two major results -- further deepening the traditional China-DPRK friendship and boosting their good-neighborly relations of cooperation as well as promoting the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a positive way.

    As an important country in Northeast Asia and a host of the six-party talks, China has once again played its due role and shouldered its due responsibility, he said.

    The foreign minister said that China and the DPRK are two friendly neighbors, and this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations and is the China-DPRK Friendship Year.

    Bilateral relations, according to Yang, are experiencing a new historic starting point for cemented friendship, deepened cooperation and coordinated development which conform to the common wishes of the countries and two peoples.

    Citing the complicated and ever-changing situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Northeast Asian region, Yang said denuclearization of the peninsula has drawn the attention of the international community with all parties concerned.

    At the time when the Chinese people are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, thepremier paid a special visit to the DPRK to join in the celebrations of the establishment of diplomatic ties and events ofthe friendship year, said the foreign minister.

    The visit shows that China has attached great importance to developing ties with the DPRK, and its firm commitment to maintaining regional peace and stability, Yang said.

    Wen is the first Chinese premier to visit the DPRK since formerPremier Li Peng visited the country in 1991, according to Yang.

    Wen was greeted at the airport by DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Il,top legislator Kim Yong Nam, and his DPRK counterpart Kim Yong Il.Hundreds of thousands of residents in Pyongyang gave the Chinese premier a warm welcome along the city's streets.

    During their talks, both the Chinese and the DPRK sides agreed that the China-DPRK friendship forged by old generation revolutionaries is in line with the common wishes and fundamental interests of both the Chinese and DPRK people, said the foreign minister.

    In the spirit of "inheriting the tradition, facing to the future, developing the good-neighborly relations and strengthening cooperation," the two sides are ready to maintain high-level exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation in economy and trade and boost coordination on major issues, so as to further develop their good-neighborly relations of cooperation, bring benefit to the two peoples and promote regional peace, stability and development, Yang said.

    The two countries signed a series of agreements on cooperation and announced that a new highway bridge over the Yalu River will be built, Yang said.

    During his visit, Premier Wen also watched "A Dream of Red Mansions," a DPRK-staged opera adapted from a Chinese classical masterpiece, and attended a grand celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the closing ceremony of the China-DPRK Friendship Year, the minister said.

    Premier Wen had sincere and in-depth talks with the DPRK leaders on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and made much headway on the promotion of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, Yang said.

    The commitment to the objective of making the peninsula nuclear free, and to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole, serves the interests of all the parties concerned, including the DPRK, Wen was quoted as saying.

    To realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and consultation is a common understanding of the international community and the only way to solve the peninsula's nuclear issue, Wen said.

    The six-party talks are an effective mechanism to realize the above mentioned targets, to which all the parties concerned should stay committed, he said.

    China is willing to make concerted efforts with the DPRK and other parties concerned to contribute to realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and maintaining peace, stability and development in the Northeast Asian region, Wen said.

    The DPRK side said that realizing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula is the instruction of the late DPRK leader Kim Il Sung, and the DPRK's commitment to realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula remains unchanged.

    Through bilateral meetings between the DPRK and the United States, the hostile relations between the two countries must turn into peaceful ones. The DPRK is willing to attend multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, based on the progress in the DPRK-U.S. talks, the DPRK side said.

    Premier Wen also visited a cemetery for martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV), in Hoechang County of South Phyongan province during his visit to the DPRK, Yang said.

    The cemetery, located some 100 km east of Pyongyang, is the largest in the DPRK among dozens for the Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers who died in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea more than 50 years ago.

    Wen laid a wreath before the bronze statue of a CPV soldier and visited the tombs of CPV martyrs. He said the people of the motherland have never forgotten the CPV martyrs and will always cherish their memory, according to Yang.