Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing, China, in this undated photo released June 20, 2018 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un asked Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting in Beijing in June to work towards bringing an early end to economic sanctions imposed on his country, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday.

Kim told Xi that he wanted China’s help to end the sanctions because it successfully concluded a summit between the United States and North Korea on June 12, the Yomiuri reported, citing unnamed sources close to the matter.

Xi said he would make the “utmost effort” in response to Kim’s request, the Yomiuri said.

Kim made his third trip to China this year just a week after he met U.S. President Donald Trump at the historic summit in Singapore.