Chinese president Xi Jinping's diplomatic trip to North Korea has reportedly cemented the two countries' enduring relationship and seemingly his own personal friendship with Kim Jong-un.
The Pyongyang strongman beamed as he led Xi on a stroll through the gardens of the city's state guest house and hosted a lunch with the two leaders' wives.
But the respective spouses - China's Peng Liyuan and the North's Ri Sol Ju - were not privy to their husbands' conversation and trailed the men by 15 yards.
However, Peng - a contemporary folk singer - is actively involved in Chinese politics and sits on the country's legislative political advisory body.
State media reports from Pyongyang in the aftermath of the visit claim that the Asian nations enjoy an 'invincible' partnership because of their mutual occupation by Japan in the early 20th century.
With a trade war brewing between Washington and Beijing, Xi's renewed influence with Kim Jong-un comes ahead of a G20 showdown with Donald Trump next week.
The Pyongyang strongman (right) beamed as he led Xi (left) on a stroll through the gardens of the city's state guest house. But the respective spouses - China's Peng Liyuan and the North's Ri Sol Ju - were not privy to their husbands' conversation and trailed the men by 15 yards
The two couples also enjoyed a lunch at the end of Xi's state visit which reportedly cemented the two countries' enduring relationship
Peng (far left) - a contemporary folk singer - is actively involved in Chinese politics and sits on the country's legislative political advisory body
And amid the anti-China rhetoric coming out of the White House, Xi will be keen to remind Trump of its influence with nuclear-armed Pyongyang, while increasingly looking to Japan - a key US ally in the region - to serve as a hedge against growing American protectionism.
Relations between Tokyo, Beijing, and both Koreas are still heavily affected by Japan's expansionism in the first half of the 20th century, with Pyongyang's state media criticising Japan on a near-daily basis.
Saturday's Rodong Sinmun newspaper in North Korea dedicated five pages to the second day of Xi's visit to Pyongyang, and carried a separate editorial stating how the 'sacred period of the anti-Japanese struggle has become the foundation of the DPRK-China friendship'.
'DPRK-China relationship is an invincible friendship that firmly combines military camaraderie and trust,' it stated, using the abbreviation of North Korea's official name.
Xi, in a rare opinion piece penned for the newspaper earlier this week, also
