The backdrop of Pyongyang's “Glorious Country” mass games on Sunday night prominently featured a portrait of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in what one expert called a “hugely significant” signal of support to Beijing.

Featured in the same style used to depict past North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il earlier in the same show, an image obtained by NK News shows an artistic rendering of the Chinese leader’s face framed in a gold oval during the final part of the performance.