Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) top leader Kim Jong Il's visit to China was "a historic event of great significance," the official Rodong Sinmbun newspaper said Thursday.

Kim's visit was aimed at further consolidating and promoting the traditional friendship between the DPRK and China, said the paper.

The DPRK and China are close neighbors, and the two peoples have forged and strengthened a friendly bond during the process of jointly combating foreign invaders, it said in a signed article.

"The history of DPRK-China relations in the 20th century reveals that the friendly bond between the two peoples have weathered various tests and incidents and could by no means be broken," said the article.

DPRK-China friendship was forged and cultivated by the leaders of the older generation, it added.

Over the first decade of the new century, Kim has made great efforts to advance DPRK-China friendship and elevated it to a new level, it said.

Kim paid a visit to China on May 20-26.

The visit, Kim's third since May 2010 and the seventh since the dawn of the 21st century, brought him to the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Jiangsu before his talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.