China’s Xi vows to elevate ties with North Korea to “new heights”

On a rare visit to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to bring the complicated traditional alliance to “new heights”, Euronews writes.

Upon arrival at Pyongyang’s international airport on Monday, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a lavish welcome ceremony complete with a red-carpet military salute and cheering crowds, according to Chinese state media.

Some streets in the capital also displayed North Korean and Chinese flags side by side.

Buildings surrounding the plaza were draped in the two countries’ flags, giant portraits of Kim and Xi and red-and-yellow banners welcoming the Chinese leader and celebrating the nations’ “friendship and unity.”

In the evening, Kim threw a banquet for Xi and his delegation.

During the meeting, Xi expressed China’s willingness to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas including trade, agriculture, construction and technology, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said in an online report.

Xi said the two countries should strengthen strategic cooperation and firmly safeguard their respective sovereignty and security interests, according to the report.

Kim, for his part, affirmed that North Korea and China will maintain their friendship as “the most important top-priority strategic work,” the state-controlled official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.

Kim called Xi “the greatest state guest.”

This was Xi’s first visit to North Korea in seven years. Xi and Kim last met in Beijing in September after viewing a military parade alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders.