Lee says summit with China's Xi put bilateral ties back on track

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Sunday his recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping helped put the two countries' relations back on track.

In a Facebook post uploaded in both Korean and Chinese, Lee noted the significance of his talks with Xi, held Saturday during the latter's first visit to South Korea in 11 years.

"The South Korea-China summit was quite meaningful in that it helped fully restore our bilateral relations and put us back on the path of mutual prosperity as strategic cooperative partners," Lee said.

Lee also quoted Xi's description of the two countries as "close neighbors who cannot move apart and inseparable partners in cooperation."

"As President Xi said, the two countries have transcended their differences in social systems and ideologies to build trust over a long period of time," Lee added. "We have encountered challenges of varying degrees but I am convinced that the deep friendship and history we have built together has not wavered."

Lee also said he will try to produce "tangible results" that the peoples of the two countries can feel, with the consensus that people's livelihoods are the most important element as the foundation.

During Xi's visit, South Korea and China renewed their currency swap deal, a move that Lee said will help stabilize financial markets and trade between the two. The president also vowed to further solidify the institutional base for economic cooperation by accelerating negotiations on a free trade agreement on services and investments.

Lee said he hopes to visit China "in the not-too-distant future" and help the two countries become even closer as neighbors.
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