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According to North Korean news agency KCNA, Xi said in a banquet speech that Kim’s visit “demonstrated to the whole world the invincibility of the relations between the two parties and two countries”.
Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, walk together during a welcoming ceremony for Kim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
Photo: AP
Chinese and North Korean relations had entered a new phase, Xi reportedly said, and “important joint agreements of both sides are being implemented one by one”.
The two leaders discussed the Singapore Summit and Xi “voiced full support for the stand and determination of the DPRK [North Korean] side for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.
The only concession made at the Singapore Summit was Trump’s declaration that the US would end “war games” with South Korea to allow talks with North Korea to continue. This was widely seen as a win for China, which had been pushing for a freeze on military drills on the Korean Peninsula.
China also appears to be pushing for UN sanctions on North Korea to be lifted more swiftly than US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s timetable for “complete denuclearisation”.
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China’s state newspaper, The People’s Daily, reported on its front page that Xi had said he attached importance to the relationship with North Korea regardless of the international situation.
Since reform and opening up 40 years ago, China had strengthened its self reliance and Xi said he was “glad to see North Korea made a major decision to turn its work focus to economic construction”.
China would support North Korea’s economic development taking a development path that meets its own national conditions – a phrase commonly used to refer to rejecting western democratic models.
Kim said he would cooperate with China in “defending socialism” as the new future for the Korean Peninsula was opened up, reported KCNA.
Trump presented his own competing vision for North Korea’s economic future to Kim during their meeting last week, highlighting the potential of its beaches for hotel development in a glossy video depicting the skyscrapers, speed boats and medical breakthroughs that could come from international investment.
Xi endorsed Kim’s actions in meeting with Donald Trump, and called for a swifter end to sanctions.
Photo: AP
People’s Daily reported Xi saying the summit with Trump was an important step towards progress on denuclearisation, and China hoped both parties “fully implement the outcomes from the summit”.
China and the US are not the only stakeholders eyeing the economic development of North Korea.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday, and told Russian media he wants South Korea and Russia to expand economic cooperation on railways, natural gas pipelines and electricity, so that North Korea could later join in.
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