Meetings between Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un

China's leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, Chinese state media said Friday, his first trip to Pyongyang in seven years.

State broadcaster CCTV said "At the invitation of Kim Jong Un... Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the People's Republic of China, will pay a state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from June 8 to 9,".

Beijing is a vital source of diplomatic and political support to Pyongyang, which is one of the most isolated countries in the world and under heavy international sanctions. Despite the close ties between the two countries, visits by Chinese presidents to North Korea are rare. Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019 -- the first such trip by a Chinese leader since Hu Jintao went in 2005.