Photo: Xinhua

President Xi Jinping and Chairman Kim Jong-un made history by meeting four times in less than a year, from March 2018 to January 2019. Xi's just-concluded visit to North Korea continues this history-making trend and adds a new chapter to China-North Korea relations. Here are a few outcomes I drew from his trip.

First, the visit was a return gesture to Kim's four trips to China. China and North Korea are the countries where people usually pay meticulous attention to protocol and etiquette. Even though Kim broke traditional diplomatic protocol by visiting China four times in a row during a very short period of time, he has done so to show his respect to the Chinese leader - in Kim's own words, it is his obligation to come to congratulate Xi in person, in line with a bilateral friendly tradition, according to Xinhua, when Kim visited China in March 2018 immediately after Xi was re-elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. 

Since President Xi accepted Chairman Kim's invitation to visit North Korea at his convenience in their first meeting in March 2018, there has been heightened speculation in mass media about Xi's imminent visit to Pyongyang. By returning a state visit to North Korea, President Xi honored his commitment and ended the 14-year-long drought of top Chinese leaders' visit to its strategically important neighbor, adding balance to the seemingly one-sided exchange between the top leaders. 

Without factoring in other considerations, Xi's visit to Pyongyang was due to pass the Chinese people's best regards and strong support to the North Korean people. As Chairman Kim emphasized, "The comrade general secretary's visit serves as great political support and encouragement to the DPRK party members and people who rise up together for the goals of the cause of the socialism."

Second, the visit is a key part of the activities celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and North Korea. In fact, Chairman Kim's visit to Beijing in January this year officially set in motion the celebrations. Xi's visit took the process to a new high as both sides needed to carry on their tradition and map out a new path for future development. 

In their decades-long history, China-North Korea relations have been experiencing ups and downs. Both countries forged an invaluable friendship by fighting the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. They also demonstrated their solidarity in ideological polemics with the Soviet Union; their relations suffered a major setback in the wake of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and South Korea. 

Later on, bilateral ties had been hit by the nuclear dispute. Since early 2018, President Xi and Chairman Kim reset relations and have been making joint efforts to stabilize ties. In their most recent meeting, both sides reaffirmed their policy to maintain, strengthen and develop bilateral relations. 

This time, Xi and Kim reiterated that such strategic choice stands despite the change in the international situation. In order to create a bright future for China-North Korea relations, both sides agreed to take the following diplomatic, strategic, economic and social measures: 1. enhance high-level exchanges for development of bilateral ties amid complicated changes in global and regional situations; 2. enhance strategic communications and exchange views on major issues to build a good environment for the development of bilateral ties; 3. expand cooperation for bringing more benefits to people on both sides; 4. enhance mutual learning on governance, and train each other's officials and boost exchanges in areas such as education, health, sports, media, youth and local government; 5. plan joint activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Third, Xi's visit to Pyongyang was a continuation of strategic consultation between the top Chinese and Korean leaders. In addition to focusing on bilateral issues, every meeting between President Xi and Chairman Kim had something to do with the North Korea-US talks. Kim paid his first visit to Beijing after he scheduled his first meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April 2018 and his first meeting with President Trump in June 2018. 

Kim once said, "The Korean Peninsula situation is developing rapidly and many important changes have taken place" and he felt he "should come in time" to inform President Xi "in person the situation out of comradeship and moral responsibility." Since then Xi and Kim have met three times right before or after the first Kim-Trump summit. No doubt, Xi and Kim had devoted significant time to discussing North Korea-US relations. 

The recent meeting in Pyongyang was no exception. As China and the US are locked in a trade war, the world wonders if China continues to support North Korea-US talks or plays an obstructionist role in order to pressure the US to make concessions on the trade issue. 

Now the answer is clear. As Xi said, "China would like to enhance coordination and cooperation with all relevant parties including the DPRK to play a positive and constructive role in promoting the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the peace of the region." 

In addition to adhering to its previous position, China prepares to play a more active role by helping address North Korea's security and economic concerns. The position includes: 1. All parties need to have reasonable expectations. One shouldn't set the bar too high at the outset or make unilateral, unrealistic demands; 2. It will be useful to work out a general roadmap for denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime; 3. Based on the roadmap and in a phased and synchronized fashion, specific, interlinked and mutually reinforcing steps may be identified, which will be taken in sequence, starting with the easier ones, and monitored in a way agreed to by the parties.

The author is an associate professor at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn