North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to congratulate China on the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, highlighting the "invincible strategic relations" between the two countries, Pyongyang's state media reported.

An opening ceremony for the Feb. 4-20 competition was to be held in the Chinese capital later in the day, although North Korea is not taking part in the Winter Games following the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s suspension decision.

"The successful opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics despite the worldwide health crisis and unprecedented severe circumstances is another great victory won by socialist China," Kim said in the message, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The IOC earlier decided to bar the North from the Beijing Olympics as punishment for refusing to participate in last year's Tokyo Games over COVID-19 concerns.

In January, Pyongyang expressed support for the Winter Games although North Korea will not participate in the event due to "the hostile forces' moves and the worldwide pandemic."

Kim also highlighted strong North Korea-China ties in the message, and vowed to "steadily develop the relations" to a "new high stage."

"The DPRK-China relations have been cemented into invincible strategic relations that can never be broken by anything in the struggle for defending and advancing the common cause, and the two parties and the peoples of the two countries have consolidated the unity and cooperation in all fields including politics, economy, culture and sports," Kim said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korean state media made no mention of dispatching a delegation to the Winter Games amid strict border controls to stave off the coronavirus.

From South Korea, Culture Minister Hwang Hee was to attend Friday's ceremony as the head of the country's government delegation. (Yonhap)