China and N. Korea to cooperate under "new situation"

• Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un in Beijing in June 2018 (AP)

According to North Korean state media, China's President Xi Jinping emphasized the significance of collaboration between Beijing and Pyongyang in an unnamed "new situation".

North Korea conducted an unprecedented seven weapon tests in January, including its most powerful missile launch since 2017, while negotiations with the US have stalled.  

North Korea halted its testing during the Beijing Winter Olympics, according to experts, who believe the decision was taken in deference to China.

Beijing is a significant ally to North Korea, particularly after their alliance was cemented in the bloodshed of the 1950s Korean War.

Xi remarked in a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that Beijing was ready to "develop the China-DPRK relations of friendship and cooperation" under a "new situation",  according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Details of the new collaboration were not mentioned by the agency.

North Korea's economy is ailing from the pandemic, and cross-border commerce with Beijing resumed last month.

More than 90% of the country's commerce is with China.

Pyongyang is subject to a number of international sanctions and warned that it may begin testing intercontinental ballistic missiles.