Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the afternoon of the 4th, on the occasion of his visit to China to attend the 80th anniversary of the Victory Day military parade, the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 5th. [Yonhap News]  Chinese President Xi Jinping departed for North Korea on the morning of the 8th.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (President), departed from Beijing by special plane on the morning of the 8th, and is embarking on a state visit to North Korea at the invitation of Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (Chairman of the State Affairs Commission).

CCTV also reported that Xi's wife, Peng Liyuan, Cai Qi, Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee (Member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and 5th-ranked official), who heads the security apparatus, and Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee (Member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs), who heads the foreign affairs apparatus, will accompany Xi on his visit.

This is Xi's first visit to North Korea in seven years since 2019, and it is the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of North Korea and China in nine months since Kim Jong Un visited Beijing last September to attend the Victory Day celebrations in China.