China-North Korea thaw gathers pace as Kim Jong-un says ties have reached a new level

He was speaking at a meeting in Pyongyang with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where both sides pledged to deepen strategic coordination and “practical cooperation”.Wang’s two-day visit to North Korea is his first since 2019. At the meeting he conveyed greetings from President Xi Jinping, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.Wang also said the meeting at the Workers’ Party of Korea headquarters “opened a new chapter in bilateral ties”.He also referred to the “historic” summit between Xi and Kim in Beijing last September, when Kim visited China for the first time in over six years to revitalise ties.“China is willing to work with the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] to implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders, deepen exchanges, promote practical cooperation and inject new meaning into the traditional friendship,” he said.