Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a second day of talks Wednesday in Beijing, reaffirming amicable bilateral relations at a time when North Korea is expected to soon start full-fledged negotiations with the United States.

By joint efforts by China and North Korea, the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asia region will "surely embrace the beautiful prospects of peace, stability, development and prosperity," Xi was quoted as saying by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.


[Photo courtesy of Korea Media]

Calling bilateral ties "as close and friendly as family," Kim told Xi that North Korea will work with China to bring them to a "new high," the ministry said.

The two leaders had "in-depth" conversation over tea in a "cordial and friendly atmosphere," it added.

In their first day of talks Tuesday, Kim and Xi discussed how to achieve a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Their latest summit, the third in less than three months, came just one week after the first-ever U.S.-North Korean summit.

In March, Kim met with Xi in Beijing on his first foreign trip since becoming supreme leader following the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011. The two also met for two days in May in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian.

China, North Korea's main economic lifeline, has shown readiness to be involved in U.S.-North Korean denuclearization talks, having provided a chartered aircraft for Kim to travel to and from Singapore for his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

(Kim Jong Un getting off a car at North Korean embassy in Beijing)

Kim, using his personal jet, returned to North Korea on Wednesday after visiting the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Beijing rail traffic control center, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

His visit to the national agricultural institute suggests a desire to improve his country's farm production. In May, Pak Tae Song, a vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, toured the same place, calling for enhanced agricultural cooperation between China and North Korea.

Kim also visited the North Korean Embassy in the Chinese capital before heading to Beijing International Airport, Kyodo News confirmed.

North Korea's official media in the morning reported on Tuesday's meeting between Kim and Xi. It was very rare for the state-run Korean Central News Agency to release stories on an overseas trip by its leader before he returns home.

While China's official media already reported on their first day's summit, one of the KCNA stories said the two leaders reached consensus on the prospect for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

On Tuesday, the two leaders exchanged opinions on Kim's June 12 meeting with Trump in Singapore and on denuclearization prospects, KCNA said.

"Beneficial views on a series of issues of mutual concern including the prospect for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula were exchanged and a shared understanding on the discussed issues achieved," the news agency said.

(Kim Jong Un before getting on a plane at Beijin International Airport)

Xi congratulated Kim on the success of the historic U.S.-North Korea summit, praising his efforts to put the situation of the peninsula "on the track of dialogue, negotiation, peace and stability," according to KCNA.

Kim expressed his "will to further develop the closer relations of friendship, unity and cooperation" between North Korea and China, the news agency added.

Xi and Kim also confirmed in their talks that it is important for the agreement signed recently by Trump and Kim to be steadily implemented to realize denuclearization on the divided peninsula, Chinese media reported Tuesday.

At the Singapore summit, Kim pledged complete denuclearization, while Trump promised to provide security guarantees to North Korea.

The United States and North Korea, however, are still at odds over how to attain the denuclearization goal.

Washington has sought swift and complete denuclearization, but Pyongyang has been apparently aiming to gain concessions such as easing sanctions by vowing denuclearization in a "phased" and "synchronized" manner.