China's Xi holds talks with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Beijing

Foster Wong, Bloomberg News on Sep 4, 2025

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Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing on Thursday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, marking their first bilateral meeting in around six years.

The meeting came after Xi hosted both Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing for a vast military parade this week.

Before this week, Kim and Xi hadn’t met in person since June 2019, when the Chinese leader visited Pyongyang and called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Before that, Kim traveled to Beijing four times in 10 months as he sought China’s support in resetting ties with the U.S. and South Korea.

Beijing has been North Korea’s main backer for years, providing a lifeline that kept its economy afloat as the U.S. and many of its allies maintain sanctions on the reclusive country.

Kim’s visit aims at rebuilding ties with China, helping his country gain economic and diplomatic support from Beijing before a potential restart of U.S. talks, and hedge risks by easing his reliance on Russia as the war in Ukraine nears a possible conclusion, according to Lee Seong-kweun, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee.