Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week

Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un met in Beijing in 2025, but the Chinese president has not visited North Korea since 2019. (China Daily via Reuters)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, in his first visit in nearly seven years.

Kim Jong Un has been trying to improve ties with China, the North's biggest trading partner and provider of aid.

The announcement came a day after North Korea unveiled a new facility to produce the material for nuclear bombs, believed to be a uranium enrichment plant.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, in what will be his first visit in nearly seven years.

His trip will be the latest in a series of steps by China to reinforce its close ties with its nuclear-armed neighbour.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reached out to Russia in recent years, notably by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine.

But in the past year, Kim has likewise been trying to improve ties with China, the North's biggest trading partner and provider of aid.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping agreed to a raft of deals in front of invited press less than a week after Donald Trump left China's capital with no confirmed deals.

Xi will make a state visit from Monday to Tuesday, local time, Chinese and North Korean state media announced today.

The trip will serve to advance ties and strengthen regional peace and stability, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

"The traditional friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK [North Korea] have continued to develop in a sound and stable manner, bringing tangible benefits to both countries and their peoples," spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

The trip is coming just a few weeks after Xi hosted US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in quick succession in Beijing.

North Korea's nuclear weapons program has long been a major concern for the United States, which opposes it.

The United Nations has imposed economic sanctions on North Korea because of its nuclear and missile development.

The announcement of the trip came a day after North Korea unveiled a new facility to produce the material for nuclear bombs, believed to be a uranium enrichment plant, though North Korea has not confirmed that.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Jong Un visits a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels at an undisclosed place in North Korea. (AP: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service)

During a visit to the plant, Kim announced plans to bolster the country'