While the trip carries limited expectations for immediate breakthroughs, it is seen as a carefully calibrated step towards resetting strained China-South Korea ties, according to experts.
Xi’s last visit in 2014, at the height of Beijing-Seoul relations, culminated in a free-trade agreement that took effect in 2015.
Park Geun-hye, South Korean president at the time, sought Chinese support for her vision for Korean unification, focusing on building trust, humanitarian aid and reconciliation. Despite Pyongyang’s criticism of the initiative, Beijing referred to it in a joint statement during a summit in Seoul in July that year.
In a readout following that meeting, Beijing omitted any reference to “denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, raising doubts about the prospects for arms reduction.
