President Xi Jinping is heading to North Korea on Monday with the aim of proving that China remains the best prospect for reviving his host country’s economy.
The visit, Xi’s first in seven years, will focus on reinforcing ties with Pyongyang at a time when the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula appears increasingly out of reach, according to analysts.
The carefully timed sequence of diplomatic meetings also reflects Beijing’s growing confidence on the world stage and its ability to engage directly with multiple powers.
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It will be Xi’s first foreign trip of the year and comes less than a month after he hosted back-to-back meetings with US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“While hosting Trump and Putin in Beijing reflects China’s growing confidence in its global standing vis-a-vis two other great powers, the trip to North Korea focuses on both reaffirming bilateral ties and managing risks,” said William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group.
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China considers renewed economic engagement crucial to reasserting its influence over North Korea in the face of Pyongyang’s increasing closeness to Moscow, according to Yang.
China is still indispensable to the North’s sanctions-ridden economy, accounting for over 90 per cent of its total legal trade and providing fertiliser, food aid and consumer goods.