North Korea and China agreed to jointly strengthen strategic coordination and economic cooperation against external pressure. It appears to be a follow-up just a month after the Pyongyang summit last month to implement the agreed high-level exchanges and practical cooperation.
According to a compilation of reports on the 11th (local time) by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xinhua, and Reuters, Cai Qi, the Communist Party of China secretariat chief, and Pak Tae-song, North Korea's premier, attended a banquet in Beijing the previous day marking the 65th anniversary of the treaty signing. Cai, fifth in China's power hierarchy, said the countries' friendship has continued despite changes in the international situation and noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, have led China–North Korea relations to a new stage. Pak responded by saying cooperation in all fields should be expanded with socialism at the center.
Pak also held talks with Premier Li Qiang, China's No. 2, at the Great Hall of the People on the 11th. Li proposed strengthening high-level exchanges and political trust and expanding economic and trade exchanges. He also proposed cooperation in areas close to people's livelihoods, such as medical care, public health, and education. Pak said, "We support China in safeguarding its core interests, including Taiwan," and added, "We will jointly expand economic and trade ties, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges."
Xi also met Pak on the 10th the day before and said the two countries should strengthen strategic cooperation to safeguard their respective sovereignty, security, and development interests. Xi assessed that "the China–North Korea friendship treaty is the political and legal foundation that institutionally underpins the relationship forged during the war." He also urged the prompt implementation of what he and Kim agreed to last month and the steady promotion of practical cooperation. During this visit to China, Pak also met Zhao Leji, chairperson of the National People's Congress of China. The fact that Xi, Premier Li, Cai, and Chairperson Zhao—China's top leadership—appeared in succession shows the political weight Beijing attached to this visit.
Experts interpreted that, on the 65th anniversary of the signing of the China–North Korea Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, China's top leadership met the North Korean delegation one after another to reaffirm the traditional alliance. The friendship treaty was signed in Beijing on July 11, 1961, by then North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. It stipulates that if one side is subjected to armed invasion and enters a state of war, the other shall immediately provide military and economic assistance by all possible means. Because of this, it is effectively called a mutual defense treaty containing an automatic military intervention clause. According to Reuters, it is also the only mutual defense treaty China currently maintains.
The event was held as part of efforts to elevate China–North Korea ties that had loosened when exchanges were cut off due to COVID-19 and North Korea drew closer to Russia. Since late last year, the two countries have increased high-level contacts and resumed trains and direct flights linking Beijing and Pyongyang. With Xi's first visit to North Korea in seven years and Pak's official visit to China from the 10th to the 12th, the scope of restoring relations is widening beyond political solidarity to include trade and livelihood cooperation.
However, some analysis says it remains to be seen whether North Korea will tilt back completely toward China, given that it is receiving economic and military support from Russia. The 65th anniversary event is assessed as a turning point that simultaneously accelerates the speed and expands the scope of restoring China–North Korea relations.