Xi and Kim held an unusual summit in the capital of North Korea • The leaders agreed on tightening relations between the countries • A new record in nuclear spending worldwide
The news in brief:
- The Supreme Leader of North Korea and the President of China met in Pyongyang for the first time in 7 years.
- The meeting took place against the backdrop of cooling relations between the countries, and North Korea’s rapprochement with Russia.
- China is the main ally of North Korea, which depends on it in many aspects.
- The parties did not discuss denuclearization of Pyongyang, and a new report reveals record spending on nuclear weapons by the nuclear powers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his extraordinary visit to North Korea this morning (Tuesday), his first visit to the country since 2019. Although no significant official agreements were announced during the visit, it was of great political importance, after the cooling of relations between the allies in recent years, and Xi declared that the relations between the countries “are at a new and historic starting point”.
North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un stated that the fact that Xi chose Pyongyang as the first destination for this year’s state visit indicates the “supreme importance” that China attaches to relations between the countries. According to official statements, Kim and Xi discussed strategic cooperation and the “shared destiny” of China and North Korea.
The visit comes as Beijing tries to strengthen its influence on one of its most strategic allies, which it has distanced from in recent years and moved closer to Russia. The BBC reported that China is increasingly concerned about the deepening of the partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow, as the cooperation between Putin and Kim has expanded against the background of the war in Ukraine. In 2024, the two leaders signed a mutual defense agreement during Putin’s visit to North Korea, and more than two thousand North Korean soldiers were killed while fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine.
China is still North Korea’s most important political and economic partner, and provides it with a lifeline against the major international sanctions it faces. For Kim, the very visit of the Chinese president is a political achievement, especially after Xi met in recent weeks with US President Trump and Russian President Putin.
The nuclear race is gaining momentum
In the official reports on the talks between Xi and Kim, one prominent issue was completely absent – the denuclearization of North Korea. In recent years, China has significantly reduced calls for nuclear denuclearization and has even avoided mentioning the issue in public, despite the fact that the nuclear issue has made North Korea an outlier in the international community.
In recent years, a worldwide nuclear arms race has been taking place. According to a new report by the organization “The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons”, in 2025 there was an almost 20% increase in spending on nuclear weapons among the 9 countries that possess them, one of them according to foreign publications – and in total the countries invested about 119 billion dollars.
The United States spent $69.2 billion – more than all the other nuclear nations combined – and also recorded the sharpest increase in spending. China ranked second, having increased its spending by 7% to $13.5 billion.