By R Anil Kumar
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently wrapped up a high-profile two-day state visit to North Korea, marking his first trip to Pyongyang in seven years. During the summit with leader Kim Jong Un, Xi pledged unwavering support and expressed intentions to elevate bilateral relations and expand cooperation.The Two leaders discussed economics, trade and defence partnerships. North Korea is the only country that China has defence treaty with.The meetings underscore China’s push to reassert strategic influence in the region amid growing North Korean ties with Russia.
Pyongyang/Beijing/Bengaluru, June 11, 2026. North Korea and China both walked away claiming major wins from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit this week to the isolated state, which helped elevate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s global stature and pulled Pyongyang more tightly into China’s orbit.
The two countries each lavished the other with praise and spoke of deeper cooperation during the two-day trip, which saw Kim greet Xi with a 21-gun salute as well as a performance of Chinese and North Korean songs and avoided discussion of thornier issues such as denuclearisation and the United States.
Kim “has often talked about how North Korea is now a pivotal player in reshaping the global order, and its partnership with Russia has been a major catalyst in validating that assertion.”
“Having Xi now take his first trip out of country this year to visit Pyongyang on an agenda that didn’t include North Korea’s nuclear programme was a big win for Kim.”
The lack of discussion around denuclearisation, which had in the past strained China’s relationship with North Korea, is a significant change.
China’s President Xi Jinping, on a rare visit to long-term ally North Korea, on pledged Beijing’s “unwavering” support to its leader Kim Jong Un. Xi’s comments during his two-day visit came in the backdrop of Kim deepening ties with Russia in recent years, much to China’s unease.
This is the Chinese president’s first trip to North Korea since 2019 and also his first foreign visit this year.
“No matter how the international situation changes, the firm stance of the Chinese [Communist] Party and government in highly valuing the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] will not change,” Xi told Kim, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
“The unwavering support for the socialist cause of the DPRK led by Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong-un will not change; and the firm determination to safeguard the common interests and favourable strategic environment of both China and the DPRK will not change,” Xi said. Xi did not mention denuclearisation in his talks with Kim.
Beijing opposes nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and supports denuclearisation, while North Korea, which has conducted multiple nuclear tests since 2006, publicly declares itself a nuclear-armed State.
Xi also called for stronger exchanges at all levels in areas such as foreign policy, law enforcement and the military and urged the two sides to step up their strategic coordination and collaboration to “firmly safeguard their own sovereignty, security and development”.
On the eve of Xi’s visit, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, slammed the U.S. as spreading false information, after Washington in May said that Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump had confirmed a shared goal to denuclearise North Korea during talks in Beijing.
“Beijing has very clearly moved on from that issue and now tacitly accepts North Korea as a nuclear state, which likely puts China on an equal footing with Russia in Pyongyang’s eyes.”
“The visit is primarily aimed at consolidating the traditional bilateral friendship between China and the DPRK.”
Asked whether Kim and Xi discussed denuclearisation on Tuesday,June9, China’s foreign ministry told a regular briefing that China’s position and policy on the peninsula remained consistent and stable.
To a follow-up request for comment on whether the lack of mention meant an implicit acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear state, the ministry said, that China had repeatedly stated its position on the matter.
Officially, China opposes North Korea’s nuclear buildup but has increasingly avoided pressing the issue publicly.
It is clear and well known that Kim and Xi do not have the kind of rapport Kim has with Putin; there seems to be little personal affinity between them. But both understand the strategic value of the relationship to push through.
But Kim giving explicit support for Beijing’s One China principle, which for Beijing means that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one country, and China’s mention of military cooperation stood out, analysts state.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said that North Korea is producing enough nuclear ingredients annually for about 10-20 bombs and is close to perfecting intercontinental ballistic missile technology. Mr. Lee said the world must first focus on convincing North Korea to freeze its nuclear materials production and ICBM program as a short-term goal.
