PYONGYANG, October 1. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced his intention to bring relations with China to a new strategic level, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"I reaffirm the stand to lead the DPRK-China relations with deep and long historical roots to a new strategic level," he said in a congratulatory telegram to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The North Korean leader also expressed his willingness to work toward safeguarding the common interests of the two countries, maintaining peace and stability in the region, and improving the wellbeing of their peoples. He noted that his meetings with Xi Jinping last year and this year have reaffirmed the two sides’ commitment to "to develop the solid and special relations of friendship."

"The history of the DPRK-China friendship, which was forged at the cost of blood and has been carried forward with genuine comradely friendship, can never be shaken no matter how the international situation may change, and it is the steadfast will of our Party and government to steadily develop the traditional relations of unity and cooperation with socialism, the common ideal, common banner and common cause, as the core," he stressed.