China-North Korea Ties | Xi Jinping To Meet Kim Jong Un: Why It Matters And What To Expect

China's President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on Monday as he seeks to cement Beijing's influence in its own backyard, following summits with US counterpart Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. In 2019, Xi became the first Chinese leader to visit North Korea in 14 years. Thousands waved flags as the two leaders drove through Pyongyang in an open-topped limousine, and watched performances depicting Chinese and Korean soldiers fighting together in the Korean War. Xi hailed the two countries' "unbreakable friendship", and analysts will be watching for similar pageantry next week. Kim had said a year prior that North Korea and China were "like family", keen for close ties to the Asian giant his country relies on economically. But Kim has sought to balance that dependency in recent years by growing ties with Russia.