On January 1, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China, exchanged New Year congratulatory messages with Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, jointly announcing that 2024 will be designated as the "China-DPRK Friendship Year" and that a series of activities will be launched.

Xi Jinping noted that China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers. China-DPRK friendship was personally founded by the older generation of leaders of the two parties and two countries, was tempered and forged in bloody and fiery revolutionary struggle, and has been continuously deepened in the course of socialist construction. In recent years, with the joint efforts and promotion of both sides, the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK have entered a new historical period. The two sides have maintained close strategic communication, deepened practical cooperation, and strengthened coordination and collaboration in international and multilateral affairs, promoting the continuous development of China-DPRK relations, safeguarding the common interests of the two countries, and upholding regional peace and stability.

Xi Jinping stressed that under the new circumstances of the new era, the Party and government of China always view China-DPRK relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective, and that safeguarding, consolidating, and developing the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK is our unswerving policy. China is willing to work with the DPRK side, taking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the "China-DPRK Friendship Year" as an opportunity, to carry forward traditional friendship, deepen strategic mutual trust, and enhance exchanges and cooperation, to promote China-DPRK relations to keep pace with the times and achieve greater development, to jointly write a new chapter of China-DPRK friendship, to better benefit the peoples of the two countries, and to make new and continuous contributions to safeguarding regional peace and stability.

In his congratulatory message, Kim Jong Un said that 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and China and is of great significance. At present, the socialist construction of the DPRK and China has respectively entered a new stage of development,and the international situation is undergoing complex changes. The two parties and two governments of the DPRK and China have designated 2024 as the "DPRK-China Friendship Year" to further elevate and develop the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and China in accordance with the requirements of the times, which conforms to the common expectations and aspirations of the peoples of the two countries. DPRK-China friendship was established and consolidated and developed in the socialist struggle. I firmly believe that in the new year, the unbreakable nature of DPRK-China friendship will be fully demonstrated. Through holding the "DPRK-China Friendship Year" activities, the two parties and two governments of the DPRK and China will strengthen exchanges and interactions in various fields such as politics, economy, and culture, enhance friendly sentiments, tighten the bonds of unity, further strengthen coordination in the common struggle to safeguard regional and world peace and stability, and write a new chapter in DPRK-China relations.