Why Is Xi Jinping Visiting Kim Jong Un After Seven Years?
AFP
Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit North Korea next week, marking his first trip to Pyongyang in seven years and underscoring Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its diplomatic role amid shifting global alliances.
State media reported Friday that Xi will travel from June 8 to 9 at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The visit comes as China increasingly positions itself as a central player in managing regional tensions and reshaping multilateral diplomacy.
The trip highlights Beijing’s continued importance to Pyongyang, which remains heavily reliant on China for economic survival. According to estimates from the National Committee on North Korea, China accounts for up to 95% of North Korea’s trade and around 85% of its exports, making it the country’s most critical external partner.
Xi’s visit also reflects broader geopolitical recalibration in Northeast Asia, where North Korea has deepened ties with Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Analysts say Pyongyang has received increased financial support, food assistance and military technology from Russia, helping it bypass international sanctions over its nuclear programme.
For Beijing, however, the relationship with North Korea presents both leverage and risk. While China seeks to maintain influence over its neighbor, it is also wary of Pyongyang’s accelerating nuclear weapons development and the potential for regional instability.
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“This is a relationship that needs careful management,” said Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification. He warned that further nuclear escalation by North Korea could destabilize the region in ways that run counter to China’s strategic interests.
Xi last met Kim Jong Un in September during a major military parade in Beijing, while his 2019 visit to Pyongyang was widely seen as a symbolic reaffirmation of “unbreakable friendship” between the two countries.
The latest diplomatic engagement comes shortly after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for closer coordination with North Korea on regional and international issues, reflecting Beijing’s intent to keep Pyongyang aligned within its broader strategic framework.
North Korea, meanwhile, has continued to advance its nuclear programme, with Kim Jong Un recently pledging an “exponential” expansion of military capabilities during a visit to a new atomic facility.
South Korea has expressed cautious hope that renewed China–North Korea engagement could contribute to regional stability, though analysts remain skeptical about any breakthrough on denuclearisation or inter-Korean dialogue.
Experts also downplay speculation that Xi’s visit could pave the way for renewed US–North Korea diplomacy, calling such prospects unlikely given current geopolitical tensions and Pyongyang’s hardened stance toward Seoul, which it continues to label its “most hostile” adversary.
Against the backdrop of growing US–China rivalry, Xi’s trip is widely viewed as part of Beijing’s broader effort to project itself as a stabilizing force and alternative diplomatic hub in an increasingly fragmented international order.
