Chinese President Xi Jinping met with a high-level North Korean delegation, headed by Ri Su Yong, in Beijing on Wednesday.

According to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, Ri delivered an oral message directly from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“In his message, Kim expressed that the DPRK hopes to work with China to strengthen and develop the bilateral traditional friendship, and maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia,” the Xinhua article reads.

Ri, a leading figure in North Korean foreign policy and a Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK) Vice Chairman for International Affairs , arrived in