Xi Jinping on Tuesday wrapped up his rare visit to North Korea, Beijing's strategically important neighbour, announcing that he reached an important consensus with its leader Kim Jong Un on developing relations between the two countries.
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BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday wrapped up his rare visit to North Korea, Beijing's strategically important neighbour, announcing that he reached an important consensus with its leader Kim Jong Un on developing relations between the two countries.
Soon after his arrival to a colourful red-carpet welcome in Pyongyang on Monday, Xi pledged China’s “unwavering” support to Kim, who in recent years deepened ties with Russia much to Beijing’s unease.
The two-day visit was his first trip to North Korea since 2019 and was also the first foreign visit by Xi this year.
There was no announcement about any concrete deals between the two strategic allies and the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday parried questions on any talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea, which has conducted multiple nuclear tests since 2006, publicly declares itself a nuclear-armed state but Beijing on its part opposes nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and supports denuclearisation.
Ahead of Xi’s visit, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, announced through state-run KCNA news agency that North Korea will never surrender its nuclear-armed status and continue to expand its atomic arsenal.
She also discounted reports that denuclearisation of the Peninsula figured in talks between Xi and US President Donald Trump during the American leader’s recent visit to Beijing.
Answering questions on the outcome of Xi's visit to North Korea, officially called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian hinted that there was no change in Beijing's stand on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
“China stands ready to enhance exchanges with the DPRK in diplomacy, law enforcement, military and other fields, pooling wisdom and strength for the growth of our bilateral relations,” he said.
References to any discussions between Xi and Kim on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme were conspicuously absent from state media readouts.
According to recent reports, ties between China and North Korea were strained by mistrust as Pyongyang under Kim moved closer to Moscow and even deputed his soldiers to fight for Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine.
Xi’s trip was seen as an attempt by Beijing to regain the influence over its vital yet deeply unpredictable partner, which relies on China for basic supplies of oil and food in view of stringent UN sanctions over its nuclear programme.
Analysts say China wants stability on its border and influence in Pyongyang, but without being dragged into crises triggered by North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Xi said he had in-depth discussions on safeguarding peace and stability in the region and the world and thanked Kim for the warm hospitality and thoughtful arrangements for the visit, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The mutual understanding between China and the DPRK has become deeper and more comprehensive, and the future development direction has become clearer and more definite, Xi said.
For his part, Kim said that Xi's visit was a complete success, sending a positive message to the world that the DPRK and China are further strengthening their friendly cooperation, and attracting widespread attention from various sides.
Xi's visit was of great significance to bilateral relations and the future development of the region, Kim said, noting that the DPRK side stands ready to earnestly implement the important consensus reached during the visit, promote new tangible outcomes in bilateral cooperation, and advance DPRK-China relations to a new and higher level.
On Tuesday, Xi concluded his state visit to the DPRK and returned to Beijing.
Kim and his wife went to the airport to see Xi and his wife off and held a grand farewell ceremony in their honour, Xinhua reported.