Top Chinese envoy on North Korea visit, Donald Trump hails 'big move'

A top Chinese envoy landed in North Korea today in a trip hailed as a "big move" by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally.

Diplomat Song Tao is visiting the North on behalf of President Xi Jinping to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest", foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

He is the first major Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang in more than a year with ties severely strained between the two countries.

Analysts expect Song to address the nuclear standoff, which has roiled relations between the two Cold War-era allies as China has backed United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests and sixth nuclear blast.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail the mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!".

A brief report from



North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency this morning confirmed Song had landed and met with Choe Ryong-Hae, a senior Pyongyang official and a close aide of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The report said Song told his hosts China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries" but contained no further details of what was discussed.

Washington wants China, which accounts for 90% of North Korea's foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield major breakthroughs.

"China has virtually no political influence on North Korea. Its influence is derived from economic leverage," Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War," she said. "Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration."