Xi Jinping Receives Grand Welcome in Pyongyang

After landing at the airport, where Xi and first lady Peng Liyuan were welcomed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju with a handshake, the Chinese leader was escorted through the streets of Pyongyang by a nine-column motorcade to Kim Il-sung Square, the capital’s primary venue for parades and political events. There, at a formal welcome ceremony, the Chinese leader was given a red-carpet welcome and 21-gun salute, and greeted by a cavalry formation and military band playing the two countries’ national anthems. Kim and Xi also watched a parade and reviewed a guard of honour, who shouted in Korean “wishing Comrade Xi Jinping good health”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Xi and his wife were then escorted to the Kumsusan State Guest House, where they will be staying overnight and where the two leaders held talks in the afternoon. Giant portraits of the two leaders were hanging in the centre of the square, along with banners in Chinese and Korean that read “eternal friendship between North Korea and China”.