North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with senior Chinese official, Wang Jiarui, in Pyongyang on Friday.

Wang is chief of the Chinese Communist Party's international liaison department.

In the past, Kim attended meetings between his late father Kim Jong-il and foreign guests, but this is the first he's received a foreign dignitary on his own.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim and Wang held a friendly conversation and Kim conveyed his greetings to Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The report quoted the Chinese official as saying that advancing the traditional favorable relationship between the two countries is the unwavering stance of the Chinese government and the Communist Party.

China's Xinhua News, meanwhile, cited Kim Jong-un as saying during the meeting that his party's aim is economic development and improving living standards for North Korean people so they can lead happy lives.