Chinese leader Xi Jinping's first visit to North Korea in seven years aimed to articulate China's future alignment with its nuclear-armed treaty ally amidst global flux. During talks in Pyongyang, Xi told Kim Jong Un that both sides should "open up a brighter prospect for the socialist cause of the two countries as well as regional peace and development."
China is prepared to expand cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction, science and technology, and healthcare, while bolstering "strategic coordination" and strengthening military, diplomatic, and law enforcement exchanges. Notably, Xi's remarks omitted any reference to Beijing's support for "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," a significant departure from 2019 and a potential win for Kim, whose country enshrined its nuclear weapons policy in 2023. This recalibration reflects China's strategic competition with the US and Pyongyang's closer ties with Moscow. Beijing uses this engagement to project itself as a responsible global power and demonstrate leverage over Pyongyang to the US and its allies, especially as China is unlikely to pressure Kim on denuclearization given current geopolitical risks.
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