Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Myung Bak on Thursday, and the two leaders pledged to promote cooperation in all areas.

On bilateral ties, Xi said China attached great importance to its relations with the ROK, and took the ties as one of the priorities in foreign relations.

Currently the bilateral ties have maintained a momentum of comprehensive and rapid growth, with the two-way trade volume topping $180 billion and visits between the two countries hitting 5.3 million last year, Xi said.

He said China would work with the ROK to push forward the strategic and cooperative partnership to better serve the interests of the two peoples.

On climate change, Xi said the on-going Copenhagen conference is an important meeting for the international community to jointly deal with the issue.

For the success of the meeting, Xi said the key lies in sticking to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as the Kyoto Protocol, and abiding by the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and the Bali Roadmap.

China expects the Copenhagen conference to be successful and is ready to continue to play an active and constructive role to this end, he added.

Regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsular, Xi said safeguarding peace and stability of the peninsular and improving the relations between the south and the north were in the interests of all nations in the region, and China would play a constructive role in this regard as always.

Lee Myung Bak said the ROK-China relationship has made significant progress since the two countries established diplomatic ties 17 years ago.

China has become the ROK's largest trading partner and foreign investment destination, he said.

Lee also appreciated China's economic growth since the global financial crisis broke out, hoping that the ROK would work with China to upgrade trade and personnel exchanges.

On Thursday morning, Xi also met with ROK National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-O.

Xi said China's National People's Congress (NPC) and the ROK National Assembly had established regular exchange mechanism to promote mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples.

He hoped the two parliaments would keep close contacts to enhance relations between the two countries.

Kim said the ROK and China had enjoyed the friendship. It was exciting that the two heads of state decided to establish a strategic and cooperative partnership between the two countries last year.

He also pledged to promote exchanges between China's NPC and the ROK National Assembly.

Xi arrived here Wednesday night after concluding his visit to Japan. He will head for Myanmar and Cambodia later.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2009)