China will not waver from its commitment to safeguarding common interests with North Korea nor waver in its support for Kim Jong Un, President Xi Jinping told the North Korean leader on Monday during a rare summit in Pyongyang, Reuters reports.
Neighbors should strengthen strategic ties and firmly safeguard their sovereignty, security and development interests, Xi told Kim, an official Chinese summary of the meeting showed, as Beijing seeks to bring Pyongyang closer.
Xi Jinping's two-day visit, his first in seven years to the neighboring isolated country, comes at a time when its economy, bolstered by growing trade and military ties with Russia, could boost Kim's confidence in negotiations.
"I am deeply pleased and I also feel a special sense of closeness," Xi told Kim on his first international trip this year.
No matter how the international situation changed, he reiterated to Kim, China would continue to highly value its traditional friendship with North Korea, the summary showed.
"The firm support for Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong Un in leading the socialist cause of the DPRK will not change, and the firm determination to safeguard common interests and a good strategic environment... will not change," Xi added.
He was referring to the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Chinese leader arrived on a red carpet, welcomed by Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju, along with an honor guard, while children presented bouquets of flowers, a video from Chinese state media showed.
A 21-gun salute was fired at the capital's Kim Il Sung Square, the site of military parades and state celebrations, as onlookers, dwarfed by giant portraits of the leader, chanted slogans and released balloons, the Xinhua news agency said.
Ties are at a “new historic starting point,” Xi said earlier, before calling for stronger exchanges in areas ranging from diplomacy, law enforcement and the military to agriculture, trade, technology and construction.
“An important consensus was reached” during the talks, Xi said during a banquet hosted by Kim for China’s first couple on Monday evening, according to Chinese state media.
"Strategic asset"
Xi urged Kim to "oppose hegemony, authoritarianism and all attempts and plots to revive militarism that threaten regional security and stability" in statements published in North Korean state media on Monday.
“The Xi-Kim summit is a reminder that Beijing still sees Pyongyang as a strategic asset,” said Craig Singleton, senior fellow for China at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The neighbors, along with Russia and Iran, share an interest in weakening US power and straining its alliances, he added.
Xi also pledged to work with North Korea to promote fair and orderly multilateralism and inclusive economic globalization, with long-term regional peace and stability as a shared goal.
“His visit is about preserving tradition in very different conditions than his last time,” said John Delury, a senior fellow at the Asia Society, in a post on X.
Flags along the streets of Pyongyang
Flags of both countries adorned the main avenues of the North Korean capital in a video released by Xinhua.
Xi Jinping is accompanied on the state visit by his wife Peng Liyuan, de facto chief of staff Cai Qi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Defense Minister Dong Jun, and Commerce Minister Wang Wenbo.
He hosted Kim and other leaders at a massive military parade in Beijing last year, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pyongyang has since reopened Chinese border crossings and boosted trade that had been frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Air China resumed flights between the capitals in March.
Both sides should use the renewed ties as “an opportunity to expand people-to-people exchanges,” Xi told Kim during their meeting.
“The sustainability of North Korea’s improved relations with Russia and North Korea’s growing relations with China may affect how long Kim can continue to ignore Washington and Seoul,” said Sidney Sailer, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Ahead of Xi Jinping's arrival, Pyongyang sought to demonstrate its strength by unveiling plans for a 10.000-ton warship and reaffirming its status as a nuclear-armed state.
North Korea likely possesses a nuclear arsenal of about 60 warheads, up from 50 a year ago, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Sunday.
They also estimate that the North is increasing its production of fissile material beyond the level now sufficient for at least 30 more warheads.
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