The leaders of China and North Korea on Thursday agreed to “deepen” cooperation and expand bilateral ties, DPRK state-run media reported on Friday, following extensive discussions over “grave” international and regional issues at their fifth summit in Pyongyang. 

In talks, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were reported to have affirmed their consistent support for “continuously and vigorously strengthening and developing the DPRK-China traditional relations of friendship and cooperation in accordance with the demands of the times.”

In a Korean-language report, the North Korean party daily the Rodong Sinmun and