Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the first Chinese state visit to Pyongyang in 14 years. This is the fifth meeting of the two leaders in the last 15 months but the first one in North Korea, BBC reported.
Xi’s two-day visit to North Korea was announced three days ago. Thousands of people gathered on the streets to welcome the Chinese president on Thursday morning with crowds waving flowers and banners as his convoy passed, The Guardian reported.
The Chinese president and Kim are expected to deliberate on economic matters and the stalled discussions over North Korea’s nuclear programme. Both China and North Korea are in separate conflicts with the United States over trade disputes and nuclear weapons, respectively.
The Chinese president lauded North Korea’s initiative towards denuclearisation, and said that he hoped that the country would resume talks with the United States and make progress. In March, North Korea had promised further negotiations with the United States despite both countries failing to reach a deal at the Hanoi summit in Vietnam. Talks between United States President Donald Trump and Kim in Vietnam had abruptly ended following a disagreement over sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.
Kim said that his country was waiting for a desired response in the nuclear talks. “North Korea would like to remain patient, but it hopes the relevant party will meet halfway with North Korea to explore resolution plans that accommodate each other’s reasonable concerns,” AP quoted the North Korean leader as saying.
Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday had said that he had spoken to the Chinese president and that teams from the two countries would resume trade talks before the leaders meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit later this month. This comes after a month-long standoff between the two nations that have been imposing trade sanctions on each other.
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