Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week in first visit since 2019

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week in first visit since 2019 1 of 3 | People watch a TV screen showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 2 of 3 | Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on during a signing ceremony with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP) 3 of 3 | In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly at parliament in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 23, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) 1 of 3 | People watch a TV screen showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 1 of 3 People watch a TV screen showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 3 | Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on during a signing ceremony with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP) 2 of 3 Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on during a signing ceremony with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 3 | In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly at parliament in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 23, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) 3 of 3 In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly at parliament in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 23, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, both countries announced Friday, in what will be his first visit in nearly seven years.His trip will be the latest in a series of steps by China to reinforce its close ties with its nuclear-armed neighbor. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reached out to Russia in recent years, notably by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine. But in the past year, Kim has likewise been trying to improve ties with China, the North’s biggest trading partner and provider of aid.“As North Korea builds closer ties with Russia, China seeks to use Xi’s trip to reassert its influence over Pyongyang and safeguard its strategic interests in northeast Asia,” said William Yang, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.Xi will make a state visit from Monday to Tuesday, Chinese and North Korean state media said in brief dispatches. His last visit was in June 2019. The trip will serve to advance ties and strengthen regional peace and stability, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday. 3 MIN READ 5 MIN READ 4 MIN READ “The traditional friendly and cooperative relations between China and the DPRK have continued to develop in a sound and stable manner, bringing tangible benefits to both countries and their peoples,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s full name. The trip is coming just a few weeks after Xi hosted U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in quick succession in Beijing.North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has long been a major concern for the United States, which opposes it. The U.N. has imposed economic sanctions on North Korea because of its nuclear and missile development.The announcement of the trip came a day after North Korea unveiled a new facility to produce the material for nuclear bombs. It is believed to be a uranium enrichment plant, though North Korea has not confirmed that. During a visit to the plant, Kim announced plans to bolster the country’s nuclear forces “at an exponential rate.” Experts say the plant’s disclosure implies that Kim was eager to cement his country’s status as a nuclear weapons state ahead of Xi’s visit.The experts say Kim wants international recognition as a nuclear state so he can demand the lifting of the sanctions. They say Kim would ultimately push for arms reductions talks with the U.S. to win concessions in return for a partial surrender of his country’s nuclear capability.Kim has been focusing on expanding his nuclear arsenal since his high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to restore diplomacy with Kim, but the North Korean leader has said the U.S. must first drop its demand for North Korea to denuclearize as a precondition for talks.Analysts will be watching to see what if anything China says during Xi’s visit about calls for North Korea’s denuclearization.Xi and Kim met in Beijing in September and pledged mutual support and enhanced cooperation. Kim was in the Chinese capital to attend a Chinese military parade alongside other foreign leaders including Putin. Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, have previously frustrated efforts by the U.S. and others to toughen international sanctions on North Korea, despite its banned weapons tests.At their meeting in Beijing last month, Putin and Xi expressed their opposition to “foreign policy isolation, economic sanctions, military pressure and other methods of creating threats to the security” of North Korea, according to a statement from the Kremlin.Embracing the ideas of a “new Cold War” and a multipolar world, Kim has pushed for a more assertive foreign policy by expanding ties with countries locked in confrontation with the United States.The trip abroad is a relatively rare one for Xi, who has curtailed his international travel sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic. His last overseas visit was to South Korea last fall for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where he met Trump.___Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writer Simina Mistreanu contributed from Taipei, Taiwan. Moritsugu covers political, economic and social issues from Beijing for The Associated Press. He has also reported from New Delhi, Bangkok and Tokyo and is the AP’s former news director for Greater China and for Japan and the Koreas. Kim is an Associated Press reporter in Seoul, South Korea. He reports on security, political and other general news on the Korean Peninsula.