Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea this week helped to improve Kim Jong-un’s international standing and gave him a “big strategic win”, analysts said. Pyongyang has become increasingly close to Russia in recent years and has sent thousands of troops to support its war against Ukraine, but Xi’s visit reinforced the long-standing economic and cultural ties between China and North Korea. It was the Chinese leader’s first foreign trip of the year and came less than a month after he...

Beijing has warned of a resolute response to the Pentagon’s newly expanded blacklist of Chinese companies, accusing Washington of using national security as a pretext to curb the development of Chinese firms. The warning came after the US Defence Department released its updated Section 1260H list on Monday as required by American law, expanding the roster to 188 entities, up from 134 last year. The list names what the department says are “Chinese military companies” operating, directly or...