BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping on Monday congratulated Kim Jong Un on his election as the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the Ninth Congress of the party.

In his message, Xi noted that since the Eighth Congress of the WPK, the Central Committee of the WPK headed by Kim has united and led the DPRK people in hard work, continuously achieving new accomplishments in the cause of socialist construction in the country.

Comrade Kim's re-election as general secretary of the WPK once again reflects the high trust and wholehearted support of the party, the government, and the people of the DPRK for the general secretary, Xi said.

He added that it is of great significance that the Ninth Congress of the WPK was successfully held at a crucial stage, when the party's and the country's undertakings enter a phase that builds on the past and ushers in the future.

He expressed hope that under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the WPK headed by the general secretary, the party and the people of the DPRK will take this congress as an opportunity to continuously open up new prospects for the socialist cause of the DPRK.

China and the DPRK are friendly socialist neighbors who stand by each other, Xi said, stressing that it is an unswerving policy of the CPC and the Chinese government to preserve, consolidate and develop China-DPRK relations.

In recent years, Xi noted, he has met with Kim multiple times, jointly guiding the positive development of China-DPRK relations.

Noting that the world is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century and that the international landscape is marked by transformation and turbulence, Xi said he stands ready to work with Kim to guide relevant departments and local authorities of both sides to implement the important consensus reached by the two sides, continuously write new chapters of China-DPRK friendly cooperation, advance the socialist cause of both countries, enhance the well-being and friendship of the two peoples, and make positive contributions to promoting peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region and the world at large.