On the evening of January 26, 2021, President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Moon Jae-in.
The two heads of state exchanged greetings for the New Year and sent best wishes to the people of China and the ROK.
Xi Jinping pointed out that since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and transformations rarely seen in a century have become interwoven with one another, and the international and regional situation has undergone profound changes. China and the ROK have stuck together through thick and thin, and have joined hands to promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields, which have yielded fruitful results. Both countries have especially put forward effective institutional arrangements and set an example of cooperation in fighting the pandemic, which fully demonstrates the high level of the China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership. The two sides should continue to make good use of the cooperation mechanism of joint prevention and control as well as "fast lanes", so as to facilitate the pandemic prevention and control and economic development of the two countries, and to help boost regional and global anti-pandemic cooperation. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of China-ROK diplomatic relations, which will embrace new opportunities for deeper development. He hopes that both countries make good use of the platform of the committee for future development of China-ROK relations, review the achievements of bilateral ties over the past 30 years, plan for future development, enhance friendship between the two peoples, and lift the China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.
Xi Jinping stressed that China and the ROK are important cooperative partners. The two-way trade last year managed to grow amid broad downward pressures, demonstrating the complementarity and great potential in bilateral cooperation. He hopes that the two sides can earnestly implement the consensus reached on speeding up the alignment of development strategies of the two countries and deepening bilateral cooperation in key areas, so as to continuously expand mutually beneficial cooperation and promote high-quality integrated cooperation. The two sides should accelerate the completion of the second-phase negotiations on the free trade agreement between the two countries, so as to put into effect the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an early date and speed up the construction of the China-Japan-ROK free trade area. China stands ready to strengthen coordination with the ROK on international affairs, and to jointly contribute to safeguarding multilateralism and free trade.
Moon Jae-in expressed his heartfelt congratulations as the Communist Party of China is going to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year, saying that under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has been successful in the fight against the pandemic and has become the world's only major economy that has achieved positive economic growth. With China's international status and influence rising day by day, the country is taking important steps towards achieving the second centenary goal. He is very pleased to announce with President Xi Jinping the launch of the ROK-China Year of Cultural Exchanges as the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries approaches. The ROK and China have strengthened their friendship and mutual trust through joint efforts to fight the pandemic. The ROK is willing to have close exchanges with China, deepen friendship between the two peoples, and continue to promote cooperation in various fields such as pandemic response, economy, trade, culture and education. The ROK appreciates China's leadership in dealing with climate change and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with China on issues such as climate change and sustainable development.