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China-North Korea relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Xi Jinping urges stronger China-North Korea ‘combat friendship forged in blood’

Chinese leader also calls to boost strategic coordination as North Korean premier visits Beijing to mark 65th anniversary of defence pact

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and North Korean Premier Pak Thae-song meet in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Shi JiangtaoandFan Chen
President Xi Jinping met North Korean Premier Pak Thae‑song in Beijing on Friday, urging a strengthening of the “combat friendship forged in blood” and expanded strategic coordination on the eve of the 65th anniversary of their mutual defence treaty.
Pak’s three-day trip comes just weeks after Xi’s state visit to North Korea last month, the Chinese leader’s first overseas journey this year and his first to Pyongyang in seven years. The trip was widely seen as signalling a warming of relations between the socialist neighbours.

Xi told Pak that his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had provided “strategic guidance” for developing bilateral ties, injecting them with “new meaning in the current era”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

“Friendship across generations, shared destiny and mutual support have always been defining features of [our] bilateral ties,” Xi added.

North Korea Premier Pak Thae-song arrives in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Xinhua
North Korea Premier Pak Thae-song arrives in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

He said the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance – signed on July 11, 1961, and China’s only formal mutual defence pact – laid an important political and legal foundation for consolidating the “combat friendship forged in blood” by the two peoples.

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