Xi plans to hold summit with Kim in Pyongyang

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang next month.

Kim Jong-un inspect construction preparations for the Onpho greenhouse farm in Kyongsong county in North Hamgyong province. Picture: KCNA/AFP

China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, next month to attend the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of its founding.

Rumoured in Beijing for some time, the visit was reported in Singapore’s The Straits Times at the weekend although it has still to be confirmed by the Chinese government.

The visit would be the first to North Korea by a Chinese president since Mr Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, went to Pyongyang in 2005.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has visited China three times this year, twice to Beijing and once to the northeastern city of Dalian, meeting Mr Xi all three times.

Ties between China and North Korea deteriorated after the death of Kim Jong-il in 2011 when his son stepped up the country’s nuclear program and began missile testing exercises, but both sides have moved to improve ties this year.

The two leaders met in March and May this year before the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim in Singapore in June and once again afterwards as Kim briefed Mr Xi on the talks.

Kim Jong-un inspects construction sites in Ryanggang province. Picture: KCNA/ AFP

Analysts say North Korea is taking advantage of the 70th anniversary celebrations to boost ties with Beijing.

The visit comes as the Trump administration has been stepping up its sanctions on North Korea to pressure it to give up its nuclear arms program. The US has also imposed sanctions on China for selling cigarettes and alcohol to North Korea, which it says are in breach of the sanctions.

The increasing expectations of a Xi visit to North Korea come as the leaders of the two Koreas are also set to meet in September.

The meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim will be the third time they have met this year.

At the time that visit was announced, China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing supported the two Koreas maintaining contact and dialogue as well promoting moves to reconcile the two countries.

The ministry said it hoped the summit would help contribute to the denuclearisation of the Kor­ean peninsula as well as a political settlement between Seoul and Pyongyang.

The countries are still technically at war as the 1950-53 conflicted ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Kim Jong-un and wife Ri Sol-ju inspect a construction site in Ryanggang province. Picture: KCNA/AFP

Mr Xi visited Pyongyang when he was vice-president in 2008. This was followed by a visit to North Korea by then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. Leadership visits stopped after that following China’s concern about North Korea’s nuclear arms program.

The news of a possible Xi visit comes as China is hoping for some progress in negotiations over its trade war with the US, with a visit by Chinese officials to Washington later this week.

Mr Xi has come under some pressure in China to take more ­action to resolve the situation, but the visit is expected to provide more insight into the intentions of Kim following meeting with Mr Trump in Singapore, particularly his plans to dismantle his country’s nuclear weapons capability.

The increasing speculation about the visit comes as China has “firmly opposed” a report by the Pentagon that Chinese bombers were training for airstrikes against US and other targets, ­calling it “presumptuous and ­irresponsible”.

In a statement released at the weekend, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China rejected the report, which was done “in total disregard of facts” and made “presumptuous and irresponsible comments on China’s national defence development.”

It said China was “committed to a peaceful development path” with a national security police that was “defensive in nature”.

The spokesman said China urged the US to “abandon its outdated cold war and zero sum mentality” and “stop issuing irresponsible reports year after year” on China’s defence intentions. It said China had a “legitimate” role in developing its national defence to “safeguard national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”.