China's Xi, North Korea's Kim pledge deeper ties during meeting in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged mutual support and enhanced cooperation during talks in Beijing after a commemoration of the end of World War II, the countries' state media said.

Xi and Kim, along with top officials from their countries, met at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, a day after Kim attended a Chinese military parade alongside other foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kim is making a rare trip outside North Korea.

Xi highlighted the traditional friendship between China and North Korea and pledged to consolidate and boost relations, according to a readout of their statements published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday.

This position will not change regardless of how the international situation evolves, Xi told Kim, according to CCTV.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said on Friday that the leaders discussed increasing high-level visits and contacts as well as strengthening strategic cooperation and protecting shared interests in international and regional affairs.

It said Kim left Beijing by his private train on Thursday evening after his meeting with Xi.

China has been North Korea's biggest trading partner and aid provider, though questions have lingered about the strength of their bilateral relationship.

In recent years, Kim's foreign policy has focused heavily on Russia. He has sent combat troops and ammunition to back Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance.

At a meeting with Kim in Beijing after the parade, Putin praised the bravery of North Korean soldiers in the fighting.

But experts say that Kim would feel the need to prepare for the possible end of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Kim, on his first visit to China in six years, brought his young daughter, adding to speculation that she's being primed as the country's next leader.

On Wednesday, he joined 26 foreign leaders who watched the parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

It was the first time that Kim joined an event with a large group of world leaders since taking office in late 2011.

North Korea's economy has been suffering under heavy US sanctions tied to Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons.

Some observers say Kim's trip could also be meant to increase leverage in potential talks with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his hopes to resume diplomacy between the two countries.

China is believed to want its neighbour to return to negotiation and give up its nuclear weapons development.

North Korea's more recent closer ties with Russia have raised some concern in Beijing, which has long been Pyongyang's most important ally.

The joint appearance of Kim, Xi and Putin at the parade sparked speculation about a joint effort to push back at US pressure on their three countries.

Trump said as much in a social media post, telling Xi to give his warmest regards to Putin and Kim as you conspire against The United States of America".

Putin dismissed that idea at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, saying no one has expressed anything negative about the Trump administration during his trip to China.

The President of the United States is not without a sense of humour, he said.

Although China, North Korea and Russia are embroiled in separate confrontations with the US, they haven't formed a clear three-way alliance so far.

Zhu Feng, the dean of Nanjing University's School of International Relations, said that ganging up with North Korea would damage China's image, because the former is the most closed and authoritarian country in the world.

It should not be overinterpreted that China-North Korea-Russia relations would see reinforcement, he said.