China and the Republic of Korea are expected to see a closer relationship under the administration of new ROK President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday.

Hua said that Beijing is ready to work with Seoul to deepen their cooperation. China attaches great importance to its relations with the ROK, and the relationship is developing well, she said.

China is willing to make joint efforts with the ROK to constantly deepen friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation in various fields so that the strategic cooperative partnership can be enriched, she said.

To continue the stable and healthy development of relations is not only conducive to the interests of the two countries and peoples but also conducive to regional peace, stability and development, Hua said.

State Councilor Liu Yandong, a special envoy of President Hu Jintao and Party chief Xi Jinping, held discussions with Park after attending her Monday inauguration in Seoul.

Park said at her inauguration that she will deepen trust with countries like the United States, China, Japan and Russia to ease the tension in the region and promote peace and stability.

Unlike her predecessors, who sent envoys to Washington, Beijing, Tokyo and Moscow at the same time after taking office, Park sent her first delegation of special envoys to Beijing - a move that observers interpreted as a gesture of goodwill to China.

Xinhua News Agency said China has a lot to offer to Park's blueprint for another economic "miracle" for her country. China has a huge market for the ROK's cars and telephones, and would be an important partner in nurturing a "creative economy" in the country, Xinhua said.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/26/2013 page12)