China on Monday expressed condolences over the death of former South Korean President Kim Young-sam, crediting him for making contributions to the development of Korea-China relations.
  
China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei, in a statement sent to Yonhap News Agency, said the Chinese government "extended condolences" over the death of Kim, who "made contributions to the development of China-Korea relations during his presidency."
  
Former President Kim, who died of a blood infection and heart failure on Sunday at the age of 88, began his five-year presidency in 1993, a year after Seoul established formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.
  
Earlier in the day, the South Korean Ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, mourned the death of the former president, calling him an important figure who "had laid the foundation stone for Korea-China relations."
  
During Kim's presidency, bilateral trade between South Korea and China quadrupled, the ambassador said.
  
Kim Jang-soo made the remarks after paying tribute to a memorial altar set up at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing.
  
As an iconic figure of South Korea's pro-democracy movement, the former president Kim fought against military rulers for decades and laid the groundwork for a peaceful power transfer in a country that had been marked by military coups. (Yonhap)