Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit South Korea in next few weeks, Yonhap says

Delayed state visit on course to happen between the end of November and middle of December, news agency says

Trip was planned for the first half of the year but had to be postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak

Reading Time:2 minutes

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in meet on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Papua New Guinea in 2018 Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:30pm, 12 Nov 2020Updated: 6:49am, 13 Nov 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delayed state visit to South Korea is expected to take place between the end of November and the middle of December, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Xi was set to visit Seoul in the first half of this year but the trip was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On a visit to Busan in August, China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi told Suh Hoon, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s national security adviser, that Seoul would be at the top of the list of countries Xi would travel to once the health crisis was under control.

Moon first invited Xi to visit South Korea in 2018 when the two leaders met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. He repeated the offer 18 months later at the China-Japan-ROK summit.

Beijing is keen to boost ties with Seoul as its relations with other regional powers, including India, Japan and Australia, have soured in recent months.

China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi (right) meets Suh Hoon, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s national security adviser, in Busan in August. Photo: AP

According to one of the sources quoted by Yonhap, South Korea’s main news agency, the urgency for China to play the South Korea card increased after Xi’s plans to visit Japan were shelved due to Tokyo’s hardening stance on Beijing.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x