China's Xi to visit North Korea for first time in seven years as Beijing tests its influence over Kim

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Pyongyang is set to start on Monday, as Beijing tests its influence over a neighbor pulled increasingly into Russia's orbit.

The two-day trip will be Xi's first to North Korea in nearly seven years and he is expected to hold talks with leader Kim Jong Un. In a commentary published in North Korea's state newspaper ahead of his arrival, Xi pledged "unwavering" friendship and vowed to deepen bilateral cooperation across multiple areas, including the military.

"North Korea has more leverage vis-a-vis China compared to June 2019, when Xi last visited Pyongyang," said Rachel Minyoung Lee, senior fellow at the Stimson Center's Korea Program, citing deepened military ties with Moscow, advances in its nuclear program, and an improved economy in recent years.

North Korea is expected to use the summit to press for economic concessions, and potentially even for Beijing's tacit recognition of its nuclear status — something Russia is believed to have privately conceded, Lee added. China has publicly opposed Pyongyang's nuclear tests in the past, but its current stance is ambiguous and "the North Koreans seem set on clarifying that during Xi's visit," she said.

Kim has sought to forge closer military and trade ties with Moscow, dispatching troops to fight in the Ukraine war while continuing to build up his nuclear capabilities in defiance of UN sanctions. That partnership has given Pyongyang new leverage, analysts said.

"Xi wants to counterbalance all of the Russian influence over North Korea as a result of their military cooperation in the war in Europe," said Victor Cha, president of the geopolitics and foreign policy department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "China does not like anyone else having more influence on Pyongyang than they do."

The two leaders last met in September when Kim visited Beijing for a Chinese military parade, along with other foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The trip is Xi's first overseas visit this year as the Chinese leader curtailed his international travels after the pandemic and hosted incoming leaders in Beijing instead.

For Beijing, China is likely to seek Pyongyang's alignment on Taiwan and push back against what it views as Japan's increasingly assertive defense posture, Lee said, adding that managing escalation risk on the Korean peninsula is also a core objective.

Ahead of Xi's visit, North Korea unveiled a new facility for uranium enrichment, with Kim announcing plans to bolster the country's nuclear forces "at an exponential rate," signaling Pyongyang's ambition to cement its status as a nuclear weapons state.

"The fact that Xi has decided to make his first overseas trip of 2026 to North Korea reflects the level of significance that Beijing attaches to the attempt to shore up ties," said William Yang, Crisis Group's senior analyst for Northeast Asia.

Some analysts believe Xi may also be carrying a message from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has signaled willingness to resume diplomacy with Kim. North Korea, however, has insisted Washington drop its denuclearization precondition before any talks begin.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday it hopes Xi's visit will "play a constructive role in addressing issues related to the Korean Peninsula." The country's minister of unification Chung Dong-young said last month that a possible Pyongyang-Washington summit could be on the agenda of this week's summit.