Saadet Gokce
08 June 2026•Update: 08 June 2026
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to expand China's ties with North Korea and called for regional peace during talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his first visit to Pyongyang in seven years.
Xi said that China is "ready to expand" practical cooperation with North Korea in the economy and trade, agriculture, construction, science and technology, as well as healthcare, while also calling for enhancing exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement, military affairs, and others, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua.
He urged both sides to "firmly safeguard" their sovereignty, security, and development interests.
China and North Korea "should jointly maintain regional peace and development," Xi said.
Xi called on the two countries to deliver greater benefits to their people, deepen practical cooperation, maintain high-level exchanges, and strengthen political mutual trust.
The Chinese president said he is ready to work with Kim to advance bilateral ties and strengthen the alignment of the two countries' development strategies.
"No matter how the international situation changes, the Chinese party and government's firm commitment to safeguarding the shared interests of the two countries and preserving a favorable strategic environment will not change," Xi said.
"This visit once again clearly demonstrates" that Pyongyang-Beijing relationship is "unbreakable," Kim said, calling the ties time-tested.
Kim also said that the development of bilateral ties is "the foremost strategic undertaking of the state" and expressed support for enhancing cooperation across various areas.
Xi said at a welcome banquet hosted by Kim later that bilateral ties stand at a “new historical starting point.”
He also said that China and North Korea had agreed to strengthen high-level exchanges and deepen strategic communication, adding that he had reached important consensus with Kim during the visit.
The visit – Xi's first overseas trip this year – comes at Kim's invitation.
Denuclearizing North Korea
The White House said after US President Donald Trump's visit to China that Xi and Trump reaffirmed a shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea. Beijing has not disclosed details of the discussions but said China is working in "its own way" toward a "political settlement" of the nuclear issue.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader, said Sunday that the country's status as a nuclear-armed state is "absolutely irreversible" and its nuclear weapons program “is nonnegotiable, rejecting international efforts aimed at denuclearization.”
However, China's Foreign Ministry said Monday that Beijing maintains “continuity and consistency over its position and policy on the Korean Peninsula issue.”
Xi's talks with Kim during the rare visit come as the two sides mark the 65th anniversary of their treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance.
The Chinese leader last visited North Korea in 2019, making him the first Chinese president in 14 years to travel to the country.
Xi's trip comes at a time of shifting regional dynamics, including the strengthening of ties between Pyongyang and Moscow under a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed in 2024, which includes mutual defense commitments.
China remains North Korea's most important economic partner. Bilateral trade last year rose to about $2.79 billion, the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic and close to pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
