Kim meets Xi at Wuhan-style summit, says hopeful about Trump meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he was hopeful that his eagerly-awaited meeting with US President Donald Trump will lead to mutual trust through dialogue and the two sides will take phased and synchronous measures to achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Xi and Kim had a surprise Wuhan-style informal summit at the northeastern port city of Dalian yesterday and today.

In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, Xi and Kim had an all-round and in-depth exchange of views on China-North Korea relations and major issues of common concern, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Speaking about his summit with Trump, Kim expressed hope that the DPRK ( Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea) and the US would build mutual trust through dialogue.

He said the relevant sides would take phased and synchronous measures in a responsible manner so as to comprehensively advance the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue and eventually achieve denuclearisation and lasting peace on the peninsula, the report said.

Xi-Kim meeting took place amid concern in Beijing that the North Korean leader is getting too close to US sidelining China pointing to its declining importance in the Korean Peninsula peace process.

In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, the two leaders had an all-round and in-depth exchange of views on China-North Korea relations and major issues of common concern, it said.

The two leaders were shown by the state-run television taking a stroll along the beach and holding informal talks at a garden location.

Kim briefed Xi on the "latest developments" and Party building in his country, the Xinhua report said.

Addressing Kim who heads the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) of North Korea as "Comrade Chairman", Xi said Kim "made a special trip to China to meet me again just after 40-odd days" at a crucial time when the Korean Peninsula situation is undergoing profound and complex changes.

"This embodies the great importance that Comrade Chairman and the WPK Central Committee have attached to the relations between the two parties and the two countries, and to their strategic communication. I speak highly of it," Xi said.

"After the first meeting between me and Comrade Chairman, both China-DPRK (relations and the Korean Peninsula situation have made positive progress. I feel happy about it)," he said.

For his part, Kim said both the DPRK-China friendship and the Korean Peninsula situation have undergone meaningful progress since his visit to Beijing in March this year.

"These are the positive outcomes of the historic meeting between me and Comrade General Secretary," he said.

Xi hosted a welcome banquet for Kim. Together, they also took a stroll and attended a luncheon, the report said.

This is the second informal summit Xi hosted after his last month's Wuhan summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which Beijing said the two leaders reached "important consensus" and drew a blueprint for future cooperation.

It was Xi's second meeting with the reclusive North Korean leader in as many months.

Kim made his maiden foreign tour by travelling to Beijing by train in March during which the two countries sought to reinforce their close ties as the North Korean dictator warmed up to Trump agreeing to meet the main US demand to abandon the nuclear programme.

Since then, Kim made a highly-publicised visit to South Korea and held a summit meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in. Trump subsequently confirmed his planned summit with Kim without giving details of date and venue.

Reports said the two leaders were expected to meet in Singapore.

Ahead of Kim's visit to Dalian, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had air-dashed to Pyongyang to prepare the ground for the informal summit.

At a crucial time when the regional situation is developing rapidly, Kim said he came to China again to meet Xi and inform him of the situation, hoping to strengthen strategic communication and cooperation with China, deepen DPRK-China friendship, and promote regional peace and stability.

Xi stressed that he and Kim held their historic first meeting in Beijing in March this year during which they had a long and in-depth communication and reached principled consensus to treasure friendship between the two countries.

Both China and the DPRK are socialist countries and their bilateral relations are of major strategic significance, he said, adding that high-level exchanges between the two parties play an irreplaceably significant role in guiding bilateral relations.

He also called for people-to-people ties between the two countries.

Xi said that with concerted efforts of both sides, the consensuses were being well implemented.

Kim said "Comrade General Secretary and I have carried on this fine tradition to hold the historic meeting with fruitful outcomes and promoted the unprecedentedly vigorous development of the DPRK-China relations," he said.