AFP, Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un met for talks in Beijing yesterday, state media reported, while the North Korean leader is in China on a rare foreign visit.

Xi told Kim of China’s enduring support for ties with Pyongyang. “No matter how the international situation changes, this position will not change,” Xi said.

China attaches “great importance to the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK and (is) willing to maintain, consolidate and develop China-DPRK relations,” state news agency Xinhua reported, using the acronym for North Korea.

Kim and Russia’s Vladimir Putin flanked Xi at a massive parade of Chinese military might on Wednesday in Beijing, where underwater drones, massive missiles and laser weapons were showcased to the foreign leaders.

China is North Korea’s most important ally, their relationship forged in the bloodshed of the Korean War in the 1950s.

Chinese state media said Kim and Xi met for talks in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

China’s foreign ministry said earlier the talks would be “an in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations and issues of common concern”, using the acronym for North Korea.

“China is willing to work with the DPRK to strengthen strategic communication... (and) deepen the exchange of experience in governance,” spokesman Guo Jiakun said.