China urges stability in wake of Kim Jong Il's death

BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China has been in close contact with key countries over stability on the Korean Peninsula, following the death of Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone that safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula served the common interests of all parties and China was ready to work with Russia toward that end.

Lavrov said Russia would continue close communications and coordination with China to maintain the peace and stability in the region.

The two ministers also said their countries would further boost the China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new year.

Yang took the same stance in a phone conversation on Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart, Koichiro Gemba, who shared Yang's view over the significance of a peaceful and stable Korean Peninsula, saying Japan would maintain close communications with China on the matter.

The two ministers said both countries would work together to ensure the success of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's planned trip to China to lay a good foundation for next year's 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations.