Xi hailed Kim’s trip as a strategically important move “at a profound, complex and critical juncture” for the Korean Peninsula.

He also praised Kim’s recent moves to lower tensions on the peninsula, which had been embroiled in a dangerous nuclear stand-off just a few months ago.

“China supports North Korea’s commitment to denuclearising the Korean peninsula and to dialogue and negotiations with the US,” Xi said.

Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang, which have been strained in recent years, have seen a major thaw since Kim’s Beijing trip, his first overseas visit as leader.

Following Kim’s visit, there have been frequent high-level exchanges between the two sides, including visits by Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi and Song Tao, from the party’s international liaison department.

Cheng Xiaohe, a deputy director of the Centre for China’s International Strategic Studies at Renmin University in Beijing said Kim’s Dalian trip showed it was imperative for both leaders to meet again before the proposed Kim-Trump summit to be held later this month or in June.

“Kim’s first China visit was properly a goodwill visit, but this one was more substantial, which I believe concerns the ultimate political settlement of the Korean issue,” he said.

Denuclearisation of Korean peninsula ‘will be hard to verify’

“What kind of role China can play in North Korea’s denuclearisation, and what China can do, would be the most important part of their conversation”.

Cha Du-hyeogn, a visiting research fellow at Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said Kim’s visit was intended to increase his bargaining power ahead of his scheduled summit with Trump.

“Kim is sending a clear message to the US that he will not be the only one compromising at the negotiating table. His visit also sends a message to Trump that there should be sufficient compensation in return for his denuclearisation as China is backing him up. In this way Kim is using China as leverage ahead of the upcoming summit,” he said.

“The Type 001A [carrier] will have a formal sea trial ceremony. President Xi will need to attend because it’s the first aircraft carrier that has been 100 per cent developed and built by Chinese shipbuilders,” one of the sources said.

The Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration had announced on Friday that part of the sea outside the Dalian shipyard where the Type 001A carrier was built would be closed for military activity for one week.

Additional reporting by Shi Jiangtao