President Xi Jinping met North Korean Premier Pak Thae‑song in Beijing on Friday, urging a strengthening of the “combat friendship forged in blood” and expanded strategic coordination on the eve of the 65th anniversary of their mutual defence treaty.Pak’s three-day trip comes just weeks after Xi’s state visit to North Korea last month, the Chinese leader’s first overseas journey this year and his first to Pyongyang in seven years. The trip was widely seen as signalling a warming of relations between the socialist neighbours.Xi told Pak that his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had provided “strategic guidance” for developing bilateral ties, injecting them with “new meaning in the current era”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.“Friendship across generations, shared destiny and mutual support have always been defining features of [our] bilateral ties,” Xi added.North Korea Premier Pak Thae-song arrives in Beijing on Friday. Photo: XinhuaHe said the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance – signed on July 11, 1961, and China’s only formal mutual defence pact – laid an important political and legal foundation for consolidating the “combat friendship forged in blood” by the two peoples.