Xi's North Korea Visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping to Visit North Korea Next Week, First Trip Since 2019
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Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea on June 8 and 9, both governments announced Friday, marking his first visit to Pyongyang in nearly seven years. Associated Press reported the trip will be Xi's first to the country since June 2019, when borders later closed entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The visit comes at a tense moment in Asia. Just days before the announcement, North Korea revealed a new uranium enrichment plant and Kim Jong Un ordered nuclear material production to increase at an "exponential rate," according to AP. China remains North Korea's most vital economic partner, accounting for an estimated 95% of the country's total foreign trade.
Xi Breaks Six-Year Gap With Pyongyang Visit
Xi last stepped foot in North Korea in June 2019, just months before COVID-19 shut the country's borders to nearly all outside contact. The two countries have since held no presidential exchanges on North Korean soil. The announcement came simultaneously from Beijing and Pyongyang on Friday, June 5, 2026, signaling careful coordination between the two governments.
In the weeks leading up to the announcement, signs of preparation appeared. Satellite images captured temporary structures being built in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square in late May, similar to those erected before Russian President Vladimir Putin visited in 2024, according to The Straits Times. Chinese security and protocol teams were also spotted in Pyongyang as early as May 21, Reuters reported.
China Moves to Reclaim Influence as Pyongyang Leans Toward Moscow
Over the past two years, North Korea deepened ties with Russia. Pyongyang sent troops and weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine, a move that created what analysts call "tactical tension" with Beijing. China has long seen North Korea as firmly within its sphere of influence. Xi's trip is widely seen as an effort to pull Pyongyang back toward Beijing.
Seong-Hyon Lee of the Lowy Institute argues that Xi wants to position China as the "main arbitrator of regional alignment" before Trump or Putin can take the lead. Beijing's message, Lee says, is clear: no solution on the Korean Peninsula is possible without China's consent. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China would play a "constructive role" in resolving the nuclear issue, according to the South China Morning Post.
Nuclear Ambitions and Economic Lifeline Dominate the Agenda
Kim Jong Un's decision to reveal a new uranium facility just one day before the visit announcement was no accident. North Korea's GDP sits at roughly $16.4 billion, with a per-capita income of just $640, according to Eurasia Review. Bilateral trade between China and North Korea jumped 22% in the first two months of 2026, reaching $418.7 million, per Chinese customs data.
Analysts at the Brookings Institution say China has quietly dropped active denuclearization as an immediate goal. Beijing now prioritizes "systemic stability" — a nuclear North Korea it can manage is preferable to a collapsed regime or a unified, pro-Western Korean peninsula. Agreements under China's Global Development Initiative to modernize North Korean agriculture and ease the effects of international sanctions are expected to be signed during the visit.
Trump-Kim Summit May Follow Xi's Pyongyang Trip
Xi's visit does not happen in isolation. In mid-May, he hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing, where regional security and North Korea's nuclear program were on the table. Just days later, Xi met with Putin and both leaders signed a joint statement criticizing what they called "unilateralism," according to The Independent.
There is now serious speculation that Xi could carry a personal message from Trump to Kim, potentially paving the way for a third Trump-Kim summit later in 2026, according to News.az and the South China Morning Post. South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said the visit could be "the catalyst" for restarting talks between Washington and Pyongyang, though he stressed that Koreans themselves must ultimately own the process.
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