Tanzania, June 8 -- Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in North Korea on Monday for a two-day state visit, receiving a lavish welcome from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a trip widely seen as a reaffirmation of the longstanding alliance between the two countries.

Mr Xi, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, was greeted at Pyongyang International Airport by Mr Kim and First Lady Ri Sol Ju before attending a grand state ceremony featuring a military honour guard, a 21-gun salute and crowds waving Chinese and North Korean flags.

The visit, Mr Xi's first to North Korea since 2019 and his first overseas trip this year, comes amid shifting global alliances and growing cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. Analysts say Beijin...