Chinese President Xi Jinping has concluded a two-day state visit to Pyongyang, his first trip to North Korea since 2019, during which he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to deepen bilateral ties across politics, economics, military affairs and culture. No concrete agreements were announced, but Xi described the summit as "fruitful" and said the two countries had entered a "new historical journey," while Kim called Xi's choice of Pyongyang for his first overseas visit of the year a sign of the "utmost importance" placed on the relationship.

Xi received an elaborate welcome, with crowds lining the streets of Kim Il-sung Square, soldiers mounted on white horses, and buildings draped with portraits of both leaders. The two men attended an evening banquet, visited the Friendship Tower commemorating Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War, and planted a fir tree symbolising what state media described as their "evergreen friendship." Xi was accompanied by senior officials including Defence Minister Dong Jun, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and his de facto chief of staff Cai Qi — a delegation underlining the visit's strategic weight. The summit also marks the 65th anniversary of the China–North Korea mutual defence treaty, the only such pact China holds with any country.

Strikingly absent from all official readouts was any mention of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme or denuclearisation — a notable shift from Xi's 2019 visit, when Beijing publicly backed efforts toward a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. Analysts say China's silence amounts to a quiet endorsement of Pyongyang's nuclear status. "Kim was seeking China's endorsement of North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, and he got it through China's silence," said Ellen Kim of the Korea Economic Institute of America. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute argued that Beijing is now "more focused on denying U.S. influence than denying North Korea nuclear weapons," using the summit to project strategic unity with a traditional ally amid intensifying Sino-American rivalry.

The visit also reflects Beijing's unease with deepening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. North Korea has provided thousands of troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine in exchange for Russian technology, and in 2024 Moscow formalised a strategic pact with Kim — a development China views as potentially destabilising. Bilateral trade between China and North Korea has surged this year, and Xi pledged further cooperation in trade, agriculture, technology, and border connectivity. China remains North Korea's dominant economic lifeline, supplying most of the food, fuel, and electronics that Pyongyang needs in the face of heavy international sanctions.

For Kim, the summit burnishes his image as a leader courted by major powers, coming just weeks after Xi held talks with both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. For Xi, analysts say the visit was primarily about reasserting China's influence over an unpredictable partner and managing stability in northeast Asia — even if the two sides' long-term interests remain quietly misaligned. One friction point noted by observers is North Korea's continued reluctance to adopt China's model of market-oriented economic reform alongside one-party rule, a path Beijing has long encouraged Pyongyang to follow.