A rare trip abroad

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea from 8 to 9 June, state media in both countries announced on Friday. It will be Xi's first trip to Pyongyang since June 2019 and his first overseas journey this year. The 72-year-old leader, whose foreign travel has grown less frequent, last went abroad in late October when he visited South Korea and also met US President Donald Trump. North Korean state agency KCNA said Xi would make a state visit at Kim Jong Un's invitation. In Beijing, the announcement came from the international department of the Communist Party rather than the foreign ministry, a detail South Korea's Yonhap agency noted underscores the party-to-party dimension of the relationship.

Beijing's message to Moscow

Beijing has worked to pull Pyongyang back into its orbit after the Covid-19 pandemic froze exchanges and Kim deepened ties with Moscow by sending troops and weapons to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. China remains North Korea's only formal treaty ally, bound by a mutual defence pact that marks its 65th anniversary this year.

“The message implicit from the Chinese side is … we are still the principal actor when it comes to North Korea. One of the audiences is Russia.”

The visit follows separate summits Xi hosted in Beijing last month for Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A South Korean presidential official said Seoul does not view the trip as a coordinated move among China, Russia and North Korea, and sees no direct link to the US–China summit.

Nuclear backdrop

Kim this week toured a newly operational nuclear material production facility and called for an exponential expansion of the country's nuclear forces, state media reported. North Korea also disclosed a new uranium enrichment plant. Analysts said the revelation was intended to cement the country's nuclear status just before Xi's arrival.

“As China's international influence grows, Beijing is likely seeking to draw Pyongyang more actively into its diplomatic orbit as a partner in shaping a more multipolar world order.”

China's most recent white paper on non-proliferation dropped the term denuclearisation as an explicit goal for the Korean Peninsula, fuelling speculation Beijing may tacitly accept a nuclear North Korea in the name of regional stability.

What Kim wants

Kim is expected to push for expanded trade across the land border and more Chinese tourists for North Korea's newly built beach and ski resorts. Passenger train services between Beijing and Pyongyang resumed in March after a six-year pandemic suspension, and Air China later restarted flights between the capitals. Bookings remain limited to some business travellers and exchange students, with Chinese tourists still excluded. Beijing is Pyongyang's largest trading partner and its main economic lifeline.

Seoul's hopes

South Korea's unification minister Chung Dong-young said he believes Xi and Kim will discuss resuming US–North Korea talks. Seoul hopes Xi will act as a mediator, nudging Pyongyang toward dialogue with both Seoul and Washington. During last month's Trump–Xi meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed the shared goal of denuclearising North Korea, according to a White House fact sheet. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, asked about this, did not directly confirm the agreement, saying only that China's position has maintained continuity and consistency. Kim has called South Korea a sworn enemy and cut all communication with Seoul since declaring an end to reunification efforts in December 2024.