Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Monday and Tuesday for his first visit to North Korea since 2019 and his first trip abroad this year.
Xi’s reception was fit for a king, featuring a red-carpet welcome, balloons and flags galore, and even a circus act. In Pyongyang, portraits of Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lined a central square, along with a banner that read: “Long Live the Unbreakable Friendship and Unity Between North Korea and China.”
So far this year, Xi has hosted 16 world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The revolving door of leaders underscores Beijing’s desire to cast itself as “the focal point of global diplomacy,” as one Chinese state-sponsored outlet framed it. Xi's visit to Pyongyang strengthens this case in Northeast Asia, showing Japan and South Korea that Beijing still cares about the Korean Peninsula. It also allows Xi to keep a watchful eye over North Korea, as the country becomes more confident, more militarized, and more closely aligned with Moscow.
As the 72-year-old Xi streamlines his travel, the trips he does take mean more; in 2025, he went abroad just five times, down from 20 trips in 2014. Kim previously visited Beijing in September 2025; China is North Korea’s largest trading partner.
Not necessarily support, but support if necessary
Xi wants to show solidarity with North Korea while strengthening his leverage over North Korea. Notably, in Pyongyang, the two leaders didn’t ink any concrete pacts. Xi merely said that the two countries “should enhance exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement, military affairs and others.”
Xi also wants to keep China at the heart of a nebulous three-way partnership between Beijing, Moscow, and Pyongyang. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the China–DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The pact is China’s only formal defence treaty; North Korea signed a similar treaty, however, with Russia in 2024.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Pyongyang has provided Moscow with weapons and military support, raking in "billions of dollars,” according to The Wall Street Journal. This arrangement has given Kim more room to manoeuvre, reduced North Korea’s dependence on China, and strengthened the country’s economy, which grew by 3.7 per cent in 2024, the biggest jump in eight years, according to South Korea’s central bank.
Going forward, Beijing is unlikely to offer Pyongyang the kind of direct defence-industrial support Russia has provided, given Beijing’s interest in regional stability and a desire to avoid a crisis on its border.
