Xi to make first North Korea visit ahead of G-20

First trip by China's leader in 14 years intended to show support for Pyongyang

20190617 Xi Jinping Kim Jong Un January 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping who met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing on January 10, will make a state visit to North Korea on Thursday. © Reuters

TSUKASA HADANO and YOSUKE ONCHI, Nikkei staff writers

BEIJING/SEOUL -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to North Korea this week, just ahead of the Group of 20 summit, state media from both countries reported on Monday.

The two-day trip ending Friday will be the first by a sitting Chinese leader since 2005. Beijing had suspended top-level visits to the North after Pyongyang conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, though Xi and leader Kim Jong Un have already met four times outside North Korea beginning in March 2018.

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