South Korean ambassador to China, Kwon Young-se, has said he hopes Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit will push forward Sino-South Korean strategic partnership. Kwon Young-se spoke exclusively to CCTV and highlighted the development of Sino-South Korean ties since the two countries established diplomatic relation 22 years ago. He also pointed out that the bilateral ties received a boost, after South Korean President Park Geun-hye visited China last year, and inked a future-oriented joint statement with China.

He said, "During the past year, a great deal of cooperation projects in the statement have been carried out, prompting a leap for relations between China and South Korea. The two leaders met on various occasions and discussed important issues, including the Korean Peninsular, regional and global issues."

"The bilateral economic ties have also developed rapidly. The two countries have gone smoothly over the Free Trade Agreement talks and achieved fruitful results despite some bumps. I hope the two countries will seize opportunities from President Xi's visit and promote the bilateral ties to a higher level. We are looking forward to in-depth and effective talks between the two leaders on how to ease the inter-Korean tension, and push forward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"In north-east Asia, the GDP of China, Japan and South Korea accounts for 22 percent of global GDP. Northeast Asia will take a leading role in Asia. The healthy development of the three countries is of vital significance to the whole region. However, Japan is still attempting to revise its history. We hope Japan can adjust its attitude and get its relations with China and South Korea back on track, and contribute to regional and world peace," he said.