(Picture credit: AP)Chinese president Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, both countries announced on Friday, marking his first visit to the country in nearly seven years.The announcement came a day after North Korea unveiled a new facility to produce the ingredients for nuclear bombs. Experts say the plant's disclosure indicates that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is eager to cement his country's status as a nuclear weapons state ahead of Xi's visit.Xi will make a state visit to the neighbouring country from Monday to Tuesday, according to brief dispatches from state media in both nations. His previous visit took place in June 2019.The trip follows Xi's separate hosting of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing within recent weeks.In recent years, Kim has prioritised developing relations with Russia, sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine. He has also moved to strengthen ties with China, North Korea's largest trade partner and aid provider. Xi and Kim met in Beijing in September, pledging mutual support and enhanced cooperation. Kim was in the Chinese capital to attend a military parade alongside other foreign leaders, including Putin.South Korea's military has assessed the newly unveiled facility as a uranium enrichment plant. During a visit to the site, Kim announced plans to expand the country's nuclear forces "at an exponential rate."Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to resume diplomatic engagement with Kim, though the North Korean leader has stated that the United States must first abandon its demand for denuclearisation as a precondition for talks.Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power, have previously obstructed efforts by the US and others to strengthen international sanctions against North Korea despite its prohibited weapons tests. At their Beijing meeting last month, Putin and Xi expressed opposition to "foreign policy isolation, economic sanctions, military pressure and other methods of creating threats to the security" of North Korea, according to a Kremlin statement.Kim has pursued a more assertive foreign policy aligned with the concept of a multipolar world, expanding ties with countries confronting the United States.