Xi Jinping ends North Korea visit with pledge to deepen ties

Xi Jinping ended his first trip to North Korea in seven years on Tuesday, leaving Pyongyang after a two-day visit that was also his first international travel of 2026. Kim Jong Un waved from Pyongyang International Airport as Xi’s plane taxied down the runway, capping a summit in which Xi said the two sides had reached a deeper and more comprehensive understanding and a clearer direction for future ties.

Both governments cast the meeting as a reset. North Korea said Xi and Kim agreed to expand cooperation in politics, economics and culture, while the two leaders also agreed to strengthen strategic communication through more high-level visits. The practical emphasis was on state-to-state ties rather than ideology: China’s readout highlighted trade, agriculture and transport links, a sign that Beijing is focused on keeping the border stable and the economic lifeline open even as sanctions pressure remains in place.

Kim, for his part, stressed sovereignty, dignity and a special relationship between equals. That difference in tone was significant. China is trying to reassert influence over its only formal treaty ally at a moment when North Korea has deepened ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and Beijing does not want Pyongyang drifting so far from its orbit that it loses leverage on the Korean Peninsula.

The trip was layered with symbolism. Xi and Kim planted a fir tree meant to represent ever-renewing friendship, and Xi visited the Sino-Korean Friendship Tower, a memorial to Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War. Kim also publicly reaffirmed the One China principle, an important diplomatic gesture for Beijing as it presses its claim over Taiwan. At a banquet marking the 65th anniversary of the 1961 China-North Korea Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, Xi described the relationship as a new historical starting point.

What Xi did not say was nearly as revealing as what he did. There was no public breakthrough on nuclear issues, and that silence suggested both sides were avoiding any message that could complicate the optics of unity. China’s trade with North Korea reached $2.73 billion in 2025, up 25% from a year earlier and back to pre-pandemic levels, underscoring how much economic weight Beijing still holds. For Washington, the summit signaled not a dramatic alliance upgrade, but a sharper Chinese effort to keep North Korea close, limit Russia’s pull, and preserve a central role in the region’s future balance.