State news agency Xinhua reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Pyongyang in his first visit to North Korea since 2019.
Xi is set to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his two-day visit, though no specific agenda has been announced yet.
North Korea laid out red carpet for Xi Jinping
Xi arrived in the North Korean capital at noon local time (0300 UTC) on Monday, Xinhua reported.
Visuals from the official Chinese agency showed military officers rolling out a red carpet that was rolled out on the road as the Air China plane carrying Xi Jinping landed.
Chinese and North Korean flags were seen at the airport, along with a banner that read: “We warmly welcome Comrade Xi Jinping” and praised the two Asian countries’ “unbreakable friendship”, according to a translation cited by news agency AFP.
Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju welcomed Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan.
The two leaders shook hands and children presented flowers to the visitors, AFP reported.
Xinhua earlier reported that Xi was accompanied by senior officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and de facto chief of staff Cai Qi.
Xi last met Kim in Beijing in September, when he invited the North Korean leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin for a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Xi hails ‘invincible friendship’ with North Korea
Relations between Beijing and internationally ostracized Pyongyang are at a “new historical starting point,” Xi said ahead of his visit, in remarks published in North Korea’s official newspaper of record. Rodong Sinmun.
“No matter how the times change or how the international situation changes, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is always invincible,” the newspaper quoted Xi as saying.
The Chinese leader reportedly said the two Asian neighbors will promote exchanges in all fields and stressed his country’s firm policy to develop relations with North Korea.
“We must oppose all efforts and conspiracies to revive hegemony, authoritarianism and militarism that threaten regional security and stability.” Rodong Sinmun Xi was quoted as saying.
Beijing has long been Pyongyang’s primary diplomatic supporter and its economic lifeline.
The US-based think tank National Committee on North Korea estimates that the country depends on China for 95% of its total trade and 85% of its exports.
Competition for influence on China, Russia and North Korea
Xi’s visit to North Korea comes after the Chinese leader hosted US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in separate, back-to-back meetings in Beijing last month.
The visit comes at a time when North Korea’s nuclear talks with Washington remain deadlocked.
Following the Beijing summit between Xi and Trump, the White House said the two leaders “reaffirmed their shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea.”
But a day before Xi arrived in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister – Kim Yo Jong – said North Korea’s nuclear weapons program was a “line of no retreat”.
Xi’s visit to North Korea, his first in seven years, comes as Pyongyang is expanding trade and military ties with Russia.
North Korea is prioritizing cooperation with Russia by supplying troops and weapons to maintain Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
And in return, Pyongyang has received economic and military aid from Russia.
Experts say if Xi is able to restore a certain Chinese influence over the North, it would give him leverage in dealing with Trump, who has consistently advocated reviving diplomacy with Kim.
Meanwhile, a day before Xi’s visit, North Korea announced plans for a 10,000-ton naval destroyer, underscoring its status as a nuclear-armed state.
Edited by: Natalie Muller
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