For the first time in more than a decade, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit South Korea next week, travelling to the historic city of Gyeongju for talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung as well as to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
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While the trip carries limited expectations for immediate breakthroughs, it is seen as a carefully calibrated step towards resetting strained China-South Korea ties, according to experts.
Xi’s last visit in 2014, at the height of Beijing-Seoul relations, culminated in a free-trade agreement that took effect in 2015.
Park Geun-hye, South Korean president at the time, sought Chinese support for her vision for Korean unification, focusing on building trust, humanitarian aid and reconciliation. Despite Pyongyang’s criticism of the initiative, Beijing referred to it in a joint statement during a summit in Seoul in July that year.
Last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited China for the first time in more than six years to watch a massive military parade, he and Xi also held face-to-face talks.
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In a readout following that meeting, Beijing omitted any reference to “denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, raising doubts about the prospects for arms reduction.