By Joyce Lee and Eduardo Baptista
SEOUL/BEIJING, Oct 24 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, Xinhua reported, crossing a newly opened bridge in a symbolic move seen as highlighting Beijing and Pyongyang's push to expand trade ties.
Kim was accompanied during his visit by China's fourth-highest-ranked official Wang Huning, who conveyed greetings from President Xi Jinping, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Kim arrived in Dandong via the
New Yalu River Bridge connecting North Korea and China, a South Korean government official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
The new bridge is expected to help move heavy equipment, raw materials and energy products that North Korea needs for development. Its official opening this month is the latest sign of warming ties between Beijing and Pyongyang, after two summits between their leaders in the past 13 months.
China, which fought alongside North Korea in the 1950-1953 Korean War, remains Pyongyang's main economic and diplomatic backer and accounts for most of its official trade.
CHINESE TV SHOWS KIM WALKING ON BRIDGE
But North Korea's deepening military ties with Russia since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine have led analysts to question whether Pyongyang is becoming less reliant on Beijing.
Kim's trip nevertheless points to a renewed push by China and North Korea to bolster their economic relationship.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency had earlier reported that Kim was expected to return to North Korea after Saturday's visit.
Footage from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed Kim walking on the bridge, lined by people waving flags, towards North Korea.
Xinhua said Wang accompanied Kim to a Korean War memorial in Dandong, where the North Korean leader paid tribute to Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers who fought alongside North Korea during the three-year conflict. Kim also toured a Dandong automobile factory, it said.
NEW YALU RIVER BRIDGE BOOSTS BILATERAL TIES
China and North Korea opened the 3 km (2 mile) New Yalu River Bridge, their most significant land border crossing, this month after a long delay, aiming to rejuvenate trade and commerce after years of strained ties and pandemic-related disruptions.
"Kim has given his imprimatur to bilateral trade by crossing the New Yalu River Bridge to enter China," said Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, saying the delayed opening had shown how dysfunctional the relationship had become.
During a meeting on Saturday, Wang told Kim that China was ready to use the bridge's opening to expand personnel exchanges and economic and trade cooperation, Xinhua said.
A visit by Kim now is consistent with the current phase of closer economic ties and more frequent high-level exchanges between China and North Korea, said Lu Chao, an expert in China-North Korea relations at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, a Chinese government think-tank in Shenyang.
"The opening of the bridge has resolved a major bottleneck in China-North Korea trade logistics," Lu said. "With the logistics constraint eased, bilateral trade is likely to increase further."
TRUMP WAITS FOR KIM TO ENGAGE
Kim's last known visit to China was in September 2025, to attend the 80th Victory Day celebrations in Beijing, when he held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi made a state visit to North Korea in June.
US President Donald Trump has been eager to jump-start talks with North Korea, but US and South Korean officials see fading chances of him meeting Kim this year, Reuters reported on Friday.
China hosts a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum next month in Shenzhen, which Trump is expected to attend.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Brenda Goh in Seoul, Eduardo Baptista and Ju-min Park in Beijing; Editing by William Mallard and Alison Williams)
