Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday over his reelection as general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) at the Ninth Party Congress, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. 

Xi sent the congratulatory message praising the WPK for uniting the Korean people and having achieved “new accomplishments” for socialism since its Eighth Party Congress in Jan. 2021, the ministry said in a press release.

Kim’s reelection “reflects the deep trust and wholehearted support” of the DPRK’s party, government and people, Xi said in the release, adding that the successful conveningof the