In an extremely unusual move, Chinese President Xi Jinping contributed an article to the North Korean party daily Rodong Sinmun on June 19, on the eve of his planned visit to Pyongyang.

This follows North Korea’s designation of Xi’s visit on June 18 as a “state visit,” a departure from the “official goodwill visit” status that Pyongyang accorded to almost all visiting Chinese presidents and party general secretaries in the past.

In his approximately 1000-word article, published on the party daily’s front page, Xi emphasizes the importance of DPRK-PRC bilateral relations and outlines his