China has Kim by the short hairs. A cessation of Sino-North Korean trade would collapse the regime in a month, at most. If Xi tells Kim to show up, he will.
China has a huge problem with debt run up by the provinces. You’d think with the trade imbalance they have that the nation would be rolling cash but that is not so. Xi is a snake, but he can do the math for the budget. He may be tired of bankrolling the NORKS
Yes and I’m quite sure China’s message to NK was a bit stronger then a suggestion.