Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to help North Korea in tackling coronavirus, in a message to its leader Kim Jong-un.
President Xi told Kim China would provide support “based on North Korea’s needs”, a leading Communist Party newspaper reported.
The Global Times said Xi had thanked Kim “for his congratulations on China’s hard-won victory over the Covid-19 epidemic”.
Not much is known about the coronavirus situation in North Korea.
The country has repeatedly insisted it has no confirmed Covid-19 infections, crediting this supposed success to strict containment measures and the closure of its borders.
South Korean intelligence officials have said it is implausible that North Korea does not have any cases, given its links with neighbouring China.
North Korea is seen as highly vulnerable to infectious diseases, and its healthcare system ill equipped to deal with them.
