The Chinese ambassador in Pyongyang has said China "warmly congratulates" North Korea on the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party next week, amid no immediate signs the North will launch a long-range rocket.

Ambassador Li Jinjun made the remarks during a meeting with Kang Ha-guk, North Korea's health minister and chairman of the North Korea-China Friendship Association, on Wednesday, according to a statement posted on the Chinese Embassy's website Saturday.

Li told Kang that China "warmly congratulates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Workers' Party and hopes that North Korean people, under the leadership of First Secretary Kim Jong-un, could make new and greater achievements."

Kang said North Korea is ready to celebrate the Oct. 10 anniversary, adding that the North is "undergoing a dramatic change" under the rule of the young leader. Kang did not elaborate further.

Without mentioning any specific date, North Korean officials have said they are ready to launch a long-range rocket to put a "satellite" into space, viewed by the international community as a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile.

Such launches are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions as North Korea has long been accused of using long-range rocket launches as a pretext for test-firing intercontinental ballistic missiles. Experts say long-range rockets and ICBMs are basically the same thing, differing only in their payloads.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said this week that, however, it has detected no immediate signs that North Korea will launch a long-range rocket on or around the Oct. 10 anniversary.

The meeting between Kang and Li was to celebrate China's 66th National Day.

During the meeting, Li repeated China's long-standing view on relations with North Korea, saying Beijing "will push forward its traditional friendship and cooperation with North Korea in keeping with the principles of carrying on the tradition, looking to the future, developing good-neighborly and friendly relations, and enhancing cooperation." (Yonhap)