It comes after Xi hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing earlier this month, where the two leaders reaffirmed their shared goal of North Korea's denuclearization. Then, barely a week later, Russian President Vladimir Putin also arrived in Beijing.
Now Xi is reportedly poised to visit Pyongyang, fueling speculation about his recent diplomatic moves.
According to South Korean intelligence sources, Xi's security personnel and protocol staff had already visited Pyongyang in advance, in an apparent sign of an imminent trip and that Xi could seek to mediate relations between Pyongyang and Washington.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, when asked, offered little, with its spokesman saying only that the two countries are "good friends and close neighbors."
The question is not simply whether Xi will go, but what he is really after.
North Korea is no longer as isolated as it once was. When Kim sat alongside Putin and Xi at a military parade in Beijing in September 2025, the gathering of the three traditional allies appeared to signal a shift.
Kim was no longer a desperate outlier seeking relief, but an emboldened leader with something to offer, amid North Korea's growing military ties with Russia.
North Korea is believed to have sent around 15,000 troops to assist Russia's war in Ukraine and supplied large quantities of ammunition, in return for hard currency and military technology. Kim’s possible visit to Russia later this year is also expected to further strengthen their ties, while Beijing is closely watching these developments.
That would be the main reason behind Xi's urgency. China has long seen North Korea as a close ally and a strategic buffer, sitting between from its border and U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. For decades, Beijing kept Pyongyang closely in check, using trade and aid as tools of pressure. But North Korea has since found a powerful new friend in Moscow, weakening Beijing's leverage.
As Trump has expressed willingness to meet Kim again, if Xi positions himself as a mediator who makes that happen, China would secure a seat at the table, a say in any deal that emerges, and a chance to bolster its image as a key global player.
For South Korea, however, all of this is deeply unsettling. Talks and negotiations shaping the future of the Korean Peninsula are taking place in Beijing and, possibly soon, Pyongyang, without Seoul at the table, among powers whose interests do not always fully align with South Korea's.
For Kim, it would be a no-brainer. A visit by Xi would likely bring some economic relief and allow him to balance Beijing and Moscow against each other, getting as much as possible from both without fully committing to either.
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