SEOUL, May 25 Asia Pulse - China will boost economic cooperation and exchanges with North Korea, a Chinese trade official said in an interview released by the North's news agency on May 20.
The (North) Korean Central News Agency quoted Wan Jifei, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Chamber of International Commerce, as saying there are bright prospects for economic and trade relations between the two countries.
Wan was leading a Chinese delegation to a four-day international trade fair in Pyongyang from May 15 and had the interview before leaving the North's capital.
"The agreement on encouraging investment and its protection signed between the Chinese and DPRK governments last year created a favorable environment for developing bilateral economic and trade relations to a higher level," he said.
DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
North Korea's trade with China accounted for 52.6 percent of the North's entire trade volume, excluding that with South Korea.
The volume came to US$1.58 billion last year, up 14 percent from the previous year, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency in Seoul.
A total of 217 companies from 13 countries participated in the ninth Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair, the largest annual trade fair in North Korea.
(Yonhap) 25-05 1145
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CHINA TO BOOST ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH NORTH KOREA: OFFICIAL. (2006.May 25) AsiaPulse News