Xi Jinping to Meet Kim Jong Un as China, North Korea Strengthen Ties

(MENAFN) Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his upcoming visit to Pyongyang, as both countries move to deepen bilateral relations, according to statements from China’s Foreign Ministry.

The two-day state visit, beginning Monday, marks Xi’s first trip to North Korea in seven years and comes at Kim’s invitation. It will also be Xi’s first foreign visit of the year.

Beijing described the trip as part of efforts to strengthen cooperation, support development, and contribute to regional and global “peace, stability, development and prosperity.”
Xi last visited North Korea in 2019, becoming the first Chinese president in 14 years to travel to the country. He also visited in 2008 during his tenure as vice president when Kim Jong Il was in power.

Xi and Kim most recently met in Beijing in September during events marking the 80th anniversary of China’s Victory Day, where Kim attended a military parade.
The visit comes amid shifting geopolitical dynamics in Northeast Asia, including closer ties between North Korea and Russia under a comprehensive strategic partnership signed in 2024, which reportedly includes mutual defense commitments.

China has recently hosted high-level meetings involving global leaders, and officials have described its diplomatic approach as aimed at maintaining regional stability and managing tensions through dialogue.

The White House has previously stated that Xi and US President Donald Trump reaffirmed a shared goal of pursuing denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, although Beijing has not released detailed accounts of those discussions. Chinese officials have instead emphasized that they are working toward a “political settlement” of the nuclear issue through their own diplomatic framework.

North Korean officials, meanwhile, have reiterated a firm stance on their nuclear program. Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong Un, has said the country’s nuclear status is “absolutely irreversible” and that its weapons program is “nonnegotiable,” rejecting international calls for denuclearization.

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