China’s No 3 Zhao Leji pledges to maintain friendship with North Korea in meeting with Kim Jong-un
- Zhao is the most senior Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since the country reopened its borders last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Meeting comes amid speculation Kim is preparing for first meeting with President Xi Jinping since 2019
State news agency Xinhua reported that Zhao, the head of the national legislature, told Kim: “It is our unswerving policy to maintain, consolidate and develop the traditional friendly cooperative relations between China and North Korea.”
Zhao was leading a delegation of senior officials to North Korea to mark 75 years of bilateral ties. He is the most senior Chinese official to visit after Pyongyang resumed diplomatic activities around a year ago following three years of border closures due to Covid-19.
Zhao also said that China stood ready to work with North Korea to promote stronger relations while continuing to “strongly support each other and safeguard the common interests of both parties”.
“What we have gone through together is 75 years of good neighbourliness, fighting side by side, sharing a common destiny and common development,” he said.
The friendship between China and North Korea, he added, “has withstood various tests from the changing international situation and is our shared precious wealth”.
The meeting, which followed a series of high-level visits to Pyongyang from Chinese officials, came amid speculation about a potential meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim later this year.
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The pair have not met since Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019.
The North Korean leader said the Chinese delegation’s visit demonstrated that ties between the two countries were “deeply rooted and unbreakable”.
“The DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is willing to strengthen cooperation in various fields and exchange of experience in state governance with China, deepen traditional friendship, and write a new chapter in the DPRK-China relationship,” he said.
Zhao, who was wrapping up a three-day visit to Pyongyang, met his North Korean counterpart Choe Ryong-hae on Thursday, saying China was willing to “intensify high-level exchanges” and strengthen “strategic coordination” with North Korea.
Zhao’s trip came amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula and coincided with a maritime exercise involving the US, Japan and South Korea.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that Communist Party international liaison chief Liu Jianchao, Culture and Tourism Minister Sun Yeli, foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu and commerce vice-minister Li Fei were part of the Chinese delegation.
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In September, Kim made a rare trip abroad to meet President Vladimir Putin.
