China’s Xi headed to North Korea in bid to shore up ties

The Chinese leader’s visit on June 8-9, his first in seven years, comes as Pyongyang strengthens relations with Russia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on June 8-9 following an invitation from Kim Jong Un, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The visit, announced on Friday, comes as Beijing seeks to shore up ties, with Pyongyang having strengthened relations with Russia. Xi also recently met with the leaders of Russia and the United States.

The meeting in Pyongyang will be the Chinese president’s first trip to Pyongyang in seven years, having met North Korean leader Kim in 2019. Before that trip, no Chinese leader had visited North Korea since 2005.

However, China has been working to draw North Korea – its only formal treaty ally – back into its fold after the COVID-19 pandemic froze exchanges. Kim has also been trying to improve ties with his country’s largest trading partner and provider of aid.

The visit comes shortly after Xi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the pair discussing the US war with ally Iran.

Putin has succeeded in strengthening relations with Kim since the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That diplomacy has helped persuade North Korea to supply troops and weapons to the Russian cause.

Shortly before meeting Putin, Xi welcomed US President Donald Trump to Beijing. During the visit, the Chinese leader declared the need for China and the US to work as partners, and warned Trump against interfering with China’s sovereignty over Taiwan. The US leader has said that he would like to revive relations with Kim, whom he met more than once during his first term.

Despite Pyongyang having drawn closer to Moscow, Beijing remains a crucial source of political and economic support for a country under heavy sanctions and among the world’s most diplomatically isolated.

According to 2022 statistics from the National Committee on North Korea, a Washington-based think tank, North Korea depends on China for up to 95 percent of total trade and 85 percent of its exports.

Xi last met Kim in September after he invited the North Korean leader and Putin as guests of honour to a military parade in the capital to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory over imperial Japan in the second world war.

Beijing’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi visited Pyongyang in April and said that the two countries should “enhance coordination” on international and regional issues and “maintain close communication and interaction”.

One point of concern for Beijing is North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.

On Thursday, the North K