North Korea, China agree to boost ties as Xi makes rare visit
China's President Xi Jinping is on his first visit to North Korea in seven years. It is also Xi's first international trip this year after
China's President Xi Jinping is on his first visit to North Korea in seven years. It is also Xi's first international trip this year after hosting key summits with US and Russian leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have agreed to deepen the ties between their countries as Xi attended a bilateral summit in Pyongyang in a likely bid to reassert Beijing's exclusive influence over its neighbor. Xi touched down in Pyongyang on Monday for a two-day visit — his first to North Korea since 2019. Leaders express their hopes for better relations During their talks, Xi expressed China's willingness to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas including trade, agriculture, construction and technology, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported. According to the report, Xi said the two countries should strengthen strategic cooperation and firmly safeguard their respective sovereignty and security interests. "I am deeply pleased and also feel a special sense of closeness," Xi reportedly told Kim. Meanwhile, Kim said Xi's visit "clearly demonstrates how unbreakable" the North Korea-China relationship is. CCTV cited Kim as saying that consolidating a new era of friendship between the two countries is North Korea's "unchanging strategic choice." Kim also told Xi that he would fully back the "One China principle" — wherein Beijing recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory and does not recognize the democratically-ruled island as a fully-fledged state — North Korea's state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.
The North Korean leader vowed continued support for China's efforts to defend its core interests, KCNA reported. North Korea rolls out red carpet for Xi Visuals from official Chinese agency Xinhua showed military officers flanking a red carpet, that was laid out on the tarmac, as the Air China plane carrying Xi taxied in. Chinese and North Korean flags were seen at the airport with a banner that read: "We warmly welcome Comrade Xi Jinping" and lauded the two Asian nations' "unbreakable friendship," according to a translation cited by news agency AFP. Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol-ju greeted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan. Image: Ding Haitao/Xinhua/picture alliance The two leaders shook hands, as children presented flowers to the visitors, AFP reported. Xinhua had earlier reported that Xi is accompanied by senior officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and de facto chief of staff Cai Qi. Xi last met Kim in September in Beijing, when he invited the North Korean leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin to 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 by North Korea's official newspaper of record, Rodong Sinmun.
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