Hong Kong (CNN) Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in North Korea on Thursday for a two-day state visit, his first official trip to the country since he came to power in 2012.

Xi is making the trip "at the invitation" of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , Xinhua reported Monday. North Korean state media also confirmed the visit.

The meeting takes place a week before G20 summit in Japan, where Xi is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump, and comes as nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States have stalled.

Relations between the two countries had been in a deep chill under the North Korean leader until recently, but an unexpected visit by Kim to China in March 2018 signaled the beginning of a new era of Beijing-Pyongyang relations.

In the preceding years, Kim had purged several key officials with close ties to Beijing , including his uncle Jang Song Thaek. He had also angered China through his provocative missile and nuclear testing, which went against Beijing's goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Read More