Beijing on Tuesday said the timing of President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea before the G20 summit in Osaka and amid ongoing trade negotiations was not a signal to Washington or U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking during a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said Xi’s visit was to further develop relations between Pyongyang and Beijing.

“As for whether China is using President Xi’s state visit to the DPRK as some kind of ‘leverage’, I must say people with such an idea are just over-thinking,” Lu told reporters.

The Foreign Ministry denied that Xi’s visit came