00:00China's President Xi Jinping is set to visit North Korea next Monday,
00:04marking his first trip to the country in nearly seven years.
00:07And it is also his first overseas visit of the year.
00:11The two-day visit comes at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
00:15as Beijing moves to deepen engagement with its longtime ally.
00:21It follows Xi's recent meetings in Beijing with US President Donald Trump
00:26and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
00:28Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019,
00:31where he held talks with Kim and received full military honors.
00:35Kim, for his part, traveled to Beijing last September
00:38to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
00:43Beijing has stepped up efforts to rebuild exchanges with Pyongyang
00:47after the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted cross-border contacts.
00:50Passenger train services between Beijing and Pyongyang also resumed in March
00:55after a six-year suspension, with Air China later restarting flights between the two capitals.
01:01However, travel remains restricted,
01:03with bookings limited to some business travelers and exchange students,
01:07while Chinese tourists are still excluded.
01:09pop to visit it!
01:10FEMALE察
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