North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with top Chinese official

Kim Jong Un held talks this week with Wang Huning, a senior member of China's Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, according to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency. Wang led a Chinese delegation that arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday and met with Kim on Thursday. Both leaders committed to implementing agreements reached during Xi Jinping's visit to North Korea in June, which marked the Chinese president's first trip to the country in seven years. During that earlier summit, Xi and Kim adopted what North Korean state media described as a comprehensive blueprint for strengthening bilateral relations and agreed to pursue closer diplomatic, law enforcement and military cooperation. In his meeting with Wang, Kim reaffirmed that deepening friendly and cooperative relations with China remained a steadfast policy priority for Pyongyang. Wang responded by stating that China's support for North Korea's socialist system would remain unwavering. The Chinese delegation visited several symbolic locations during the trip, including a memorial dedicated to Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War and the mausoleum housing the bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Observers view these high-level exchanges as Beijing's attempt to maintain its influence over North Korea at a time when Pyongyang has grown increasingly close to Russia, including through a strategic defence agreement that has resulted in North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine. Despite North Korea's deepening ties with Moscow, China remains the country's largest economic partner.