North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country was awaiting a desired response from the US to unlock stalled nuclear talks, as he welcomed China’s President Xi Jinping on his first state visit to Pyongyang.
The two-day trip, the first state visit to North Korea by a Chinese leader in 14 years, comes a week before Mr Xi is scheduled to meet Donald Trump, US president, at the G20 in Japan and two weeks after he met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow.
The trip’s timing and pomp — the Chinese president was greeted on arrival with a 21-gun salute and a crowd of around 10,000 — represent an opportunity for Mr Xi to remind Mr Trump of his country’s sway over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme after the sudden collapse of talks between North Korea and the US during a summit in Hanoi in February.