(VOVworld) - China hopes all parties involved in the Korean peninsula issues will exercise restraint, President Xi Jinping told a visiting North Korean envoy on Wednesday. He added that China looks forward to continued friendly relations with North Korea.

China's President Xi Jinping (left) meets Senior North Korean diplomat Ri Su Yong on June 1st. (Photo: AFP, Reuters)

Ri Su-yong, Vice Chairman of the North Korean ruling party's Central Committee, conveyed leader Kim Jong-un's message to Beijing that he wants to strengthen and develop their traditional friendship and maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

Ri’s visit to China aims to strengthen political ties between the two countries following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in defiance of UN sanctions.