Chinese President Xi Jinping departed for Pyongyang on Thursday morning on his historic visit to North Korea, according to BBC News.
Xi will visit North Korea for two days, making him the first Chinese leader to visit the country in 14 years, and Pyongyang hopes the visit can revive support to help its struggling economy.
China is one of North Korea's essential allies and the visit comes as tensions have been renewed on the Korean Peninsula after North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump's second summit collapsed earlier this year in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Xi, along with two top diplomats and He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, will spend time in the reclusive country before Xi travels to Japan for the G20 summit.
China has been one of the only voices advocating for sanctions relief for North Korea since it says the North has been abiding by the denuclearization plans.
North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper welcomed Xi’s “historic visit” in a front-page commentary and a lengthy profile of how the two countries have ties that “never waver despite any headwinds,” and strengthen “blood ties” between the two peoples."
“Comrade Xi Jinping is visiting our country in the face of crucial and grave tasks due to complex international relations, which clearly shows that the Chinese party and the government place a high significance on the friendship between the two countries,” it added.
Xi is expected to hold a summit with Kim and pay tribute to the Friendship Tower, which commemorates Chinese troops who fought with North Koreans during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Analysts said Beijing is likely to push for more information about why the talks between Kim and Trump fell apart and if there is anything they can do to move talks forward, particularly since Xi is scheduled to meet with Trump in Japan and discuss the ongoing tariff war between the two major powers.
North Korean state media has also advocated for more humanitarian help as drought strikes the struggling country, which has been corroborated by international aid groups who said food production has dropped across North Korea after poor harvests.
Leif-Eric Easley, who studies northeast Asian security ties at Ewha Womans University in the South Korean capital of Seoul, told Reuters China could increase the use of people-to-people exchange to help provide economic relief.
“More experts may travel from China to support North Korea’s technical capacity building, and more Chinese tourist arrivals will help North Korea deal with its shortfall in foreign currency under sanctions.”
-WN.com, Maureen Foody