On September 4, 2025, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of the People’s Republic of China, meets with Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Minister of State of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the capital of China.
Huang Jingwen | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang is scheduled to begin on Monday, as Beijing tests its influence over a neighbor that is increasingly drawn into Russia’s orbit.
Xi’s two-day visit will be his first visit to North Korea in about seven years, and he is scheduled to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a commentary published in North Korea’s state-run newspaper ahead of his arrival, Xi pledged “unwavering” friendship and deepened bilateral cooperation in multiple areas, including the military.
“North Korea’s influence over China has increased even more than it did in June 2019, when President Xi Jinping last visited Pyongyang,” said Rachel Mignon Lee, a senior fellow in the Korea Program at the Stimson Center, citing deepening military ties with Russia, advances in its nuclear program, and economic improvements in recent years.
North Korea is likely to use the summit to press for economic concessions, and possibly even tacit recognition of China’s nuclear status — Russia is also believed to have made concessions privately, Lee added. China has publicly opposed North Korea’s nuclear tests in the past, but its current position is ambiguous and “North Korea appears to be trying to clarify this point during President Xi’s visit,” he said.
Kim has continued to build up his nuclear arsenal in defiance of U.N. sanctions, while seeking to build closer military and trade ties with Russia, including sending troops to the war in Ukraine. Analysts said the partnership gave North Korea new leverage.
“Xi wants to offset any Russian influence over North Korea as a result of military cooperation in the war in Europe,” said Victor Cha, director of the geopolitics and foreign policy division at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “China doesn’t like anyone else having more influence over North Korea than it does.”
The two leaders last met in September, when Kim visited Beijing for a Chinese military parade with other foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The trip will be Xi’s first overseas trip of the year, as the Chinese leader has cut back on international travel after the pandemic and instead welcomed the next leader in Beijing.
Li said Beijing is likely to work with North Korea on Taiwan and push back against what China sees as Japan’s increasingly assertive defense posture, adding that managing escalation risks on the Korean Peninsula is also a central objective.
Ahead of Xi’s visit, North Korea unveiled a new uranium enrichment facility and Kim announced plans to “drastically” strengthen the country’s nuclear arsenal, signaling North Korea’s ambitions to solidify its status as a nuclear power.
“The fact that President Xi has decided to make his first overseas trip to North Korea in 2026 reflects the level of importance Beijing places on attempts to strengthen ties,” said William Yang, senior Northeast Asia analyst at Crisis Group.
Some analysts believe that Xi may also be conveying a message from US President Donald Trump, who has expressed interest in resuming diplomacy with Kim. However, North Korea insists that the US withdraw its preconditions for denuclearization before talks begin.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it hoped Xi’s visit would “play a constructive role in resolving issues related to the Korean Peninsula.” South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said last month that the possibility of a North Korea-US summit could be on the agenda at this week’s summit.
