Xi Jinping to visit North Korea next month, report claims
Chinese president had been invited to attend celebrations to mark 70th anniversary of communist neighbour’s foundation
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Pyongyang next month as ties between China and its close neighbour North Korea improve, The Straits Times reported on Saturday.
The Singapore-based newspaper’s report, which did not cite a source, said Xi would go to Pyongyang to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the country’s founding on September 9 at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
If confirmed, the visit will be the first by a top Chinese leader to North Korea since Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao’s trip in 2005.
Kim has already visited China three times this year, travelling twice to Beijing and once to Dalian. Xi met the North Korean leader during all of those visits, amid warmer relations between the two communist countries. The first two meetings, in March and May, were held in the lead-up to the landmark summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June. The third came after the talks, to brief China on the outcome.
