The Chinese leader’s visit comes at a pivotal moment for both countries. China is seeking to reassert its influence as North Korea’s largest trading partner and closest ally, looking to counterbalance Mr. Kim’s recent drift toward President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Feeding Mr. Putin’s war effort in Ukraine has transformed Mr. Kim’s fortunes, giving him a stronger hand in talks with Mr. Xi. But he is still looking to Beijing for vital economic aid and diplomatic cover — seeking recognition as a nuclear power and a partnership in building the “multipolar” world order that both nations envision as a counterweight to American dominance.
Mr. Xi cast the visit as “an opportunity to strengthen” coordination between Beijing and Pyongyang, according to Chinese state media.
China prizes North Korea as a vital buffer against U.S. influence in Northeast Asia — backing Pyongyang in the Korean War and cementing ties with a 1961 alliance treaty. Now, Mr. Kim and Mr. Xi have pledged to mark the treaty’s 65th anniversary this year by forging an even broader strategic front against Washington and its allies.
Although bound by the treaty, relations between China and North Korea have long been marked by tension and distrust. Fractures emerged as China built robust trade ties with South Korea during post-Cold War decades, as North Korea conducted nuclear weapons tests, and as Beijing joined Washington in imposing tough sanctions. In his first seven years as China’s top leader, Mr. Xi never visited Pyongyang, depriving Mr. Kim of the prestige of hosting his most powerful neighbor.
The dynamic began to shift when Mr. Kim became the first North Korean leader to meet a sitting American president, holding three summit meetings with President Trump in 2018 and 2019. Mr. Xi met with Mr. Kim before or after each of those summits in an effort to keep Pyongyang within China’s orbit. Ties cooled during the pandemic, but Mr. Kim’s growing alignment with Moscow has since compelled Beijing to court North Korea once again.
This week’s talks in Pyongyang “may be remembered as the most consequential of the seven summit meetings” the two leaders have held to date, said Sung-Yoon Lee, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute, a think tank in Seoul. The repeated invocation of “strategic” in both governments’ statements, combined with an unprecedented focus on military exchanges, he said, suggests that “Beijing is increasingly defining North Korea as a long-term strategic partner in an emerging Eurasian geopolitical contest versus the U.S. and its allies.”