Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea for a two-day visit starting this Thursday, according to Chinese state media reports.

The visit will be the first by a Chinese leader in a decade. In 2009, then-premier Wen Jiabao travelled to Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong-il. The last visit by a Chinese president was by Hu Jintao in 2005.
Xi Jinping’s trip comes amid an ongoing dispute over North Korea’s denuclearization negotiations with the US. Xinhua reports that the state visit is on foot of an invitation by Kim Jong-un.