North Korea has praised its leader Kim Jong-il's visit to China as strengthening ties between the two communist allies.

The Rodong Shimun, the official daily of the North's Workers' Party, said in an editorial Friday that Kim's trip was made at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao and that it greatly contributed to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Asia.

Calling China's economic development "amazing," the daily predicted a bright future for China given the Chinese Communist Party's new policies tailored to the nation's situation.