Kim Jong Il meets Chinese leader; agreements signed (Roundup)

Beijing - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il welcomed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pyongyang on Sunday, as the two sides signed several cooperation agreements amid anticipation that Kim could use the visit to signal his nation's position on its nuclear programme. Kim and other North Korean senior politicians greeted Wen at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport, where a military guard of honour welcomed Wen with a 21-gun salute, China's foreign ministry said in a report posted on its website. Wen and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Il, attended the signing of the agreements following talks on Sunday afternoon, the semi-official China News Service reported from Pyongyang. The agency and the foreign ministry gave no details of the agreements or the talks between the prime ministers. The ministry said more than 100,000 people lined the streets, waving North Korean and Chinese flags, as Wen's motorcade travelled from the airport to the city centre. Wen got out of his car several times to shake hands with people in the crowd, it said. It said he also visited the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il's father, who is lauded by the Korean Worker's Party as the founder of communist North Korea. The Foreign Ministry said earlier that the two nations planned to sign agreements on trade, education and tourism during the first trip to North Korea by a Chinese premier in 18 years. Wen's trip was expected to focus on international efforts to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear weapons programme. It was also timed to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China's ruling Communist Party and North Korea's Korean Workers' Party. 'To continuously consolidate and develop the friendly and cooperative relations between China and North Korea is the steadfast policy of the Chinese party and government,' the agency quoted Wen as saying in a written statement delivered at the airport. Wen said China was willing to make 'greater contributions for regional peace and stability' in North-east Asia. South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted unidentified diplomatic sources in Seoul as saying that Kim could make an 'important announcement' at the end of Wen's visit, possibly a message of commitment to rejoining the six-party negotiations on its nuclear programme. Kim Jong Il's reception of Wen was also the North Korean leader's first appearance at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport since 2007. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said last week that China had continued to provide North Korea with 'assistance within its capacity' to help the isolated nation to 'develop its economy and improve the livelihood of its people.' China wanted to cooperate with North Korea to 'bring the situation of the Korean Peninsula to a positive direction so as to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region,' Jiang said. 'It is in the common interest of all parties to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,' she said. In early September, Kim told a Chinese envoy that North Korea was committed to denuclearization and to 'peace and stability' on the Korean peninsula, Chinese state media reported. Kim was quoted as saying North Korea was 'willing to solve problems through bilateral or multilateral talks.' His comments apparently signalled a commitment resume negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme through the long-standing six-nation talks, which also involve the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. Bilateral trade between China and North Korea was valued at 2.793 billion dollars last year, up 41 per cent from 2007, according to Chinese statistics.