ISTANBUL 

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his reelection as general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, state media reported.

Xi, who also serves as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said he is ready to work with Kim to “write a new chapter” in China-North Korea friendship, Beijing-based Xinhua News reported.

Kim was reelected as general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea at the party’s ninth Congress in Pyongyang on Sunday.

North Korea's ruling party -- not the state presidency -- is the highest power structure in the country. The general secretary is the top party position and effectively the nation’s most powerful office.