BEIJING — When Kim Jong-un arrived in Singapore on Sunday for his landmark summit meeting with President Trump, he stepped off a jumbo jet emblazoned with the logo of Air China and the Chinese national flag.

China said it provided the aircraft — actually an American-made Boeing 747 that was formerly used by Chinese leaders — to Mr. Kim to make the 3,000-mile trip to Singapore.

Photographs of Mr. Kim stepping off the Chinese jumbo jet drew immediate quips about North Korea’s reliance on its much larger and wealthier neighbor.

“China’s new province,” said a tweet by Victor Cha, a North Korea expert at Georgetown University who was once under consideration to be the American ambassador to South Korea.