Xi Jinping visits North Korea for first time in nearly seven years
6 reported3 unconfirmed
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is traveling to North Korea for the first time in nearly seven years, according to a report from ABC News. The trip offers North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a stage to showcase an increasingly assertive foreign policy anchored by closer ties with his country’s former Cold War allies. The meeting between the two leaders is their first since Kim traveled to Beijing for a World War II event in September 2025. China, the North’s economic pipeline, is expected to reassert its influence over a traditionally allied government that has grown closer to Russia in recent times. Xi is making his first overseas trip in 2026 after becoming increasingly selective about state visits since the pandemic. The visit comes after Xi separately hosted both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What’s reported
Xi Jinping is traveling to North Korea for the first time in nearly seven years.
The meeting is the first between Xi and Kim since Kim traveled to Beijing for a World War II event in September 2025.
Xi is making his first overseas trip in 2026 after becoming increasingly selective about state visits since the pandemic.
The visit comes after Xi separately hosted both Trump and Putin.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pyongyang and met with Kim in April 2026.
Observers noted the absence of the word “denuclearization” from the statement on Wang Yi’s visit.
Open questions
Whether the meeting will include discussions on resuming Chinese tourism to North Korea or opening a bridge over the Yalu River.
Whether Kim will use his increased diplomatic footing to reengage with Washington after his talks with Trump collapsed in 2019.
Whether China’s official readout will omit the word “denuclearization,” which would indicate Beijing has accepted North Korea as a nuclear state.
Key figures
Xi Jinping, Chinese leader
Kim Jong Un, North Korean leader
Koh Yu-hwan, former president of Seoul’s Institute of National Unification
Park Won Gon, professor at Seoul’s Ewha University
Mike Chinoy, former CNN journalist and author
Seong-Hyon Lee, senior fellow at the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations
Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister
Donald Trump, U.S. President
Vladimir Putin, Russian President
Sources: abcnews.com
