North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first-ever foreign trip as leader to meet China's president Xi Jinping in Beijing, AFP reported Tuesday, citing the official Chinese Xinhua news agency.
Kim had not left North Korea for official foreign trips since taking over after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
The report in Chinese media confirmed earlier rumors that Kim had visited Beijing.
During the visit, according to Xinhua, Kim held talks with the Chinese president who hosted a banquet to welcome the North Korean leader and his wife Ri Sol Ju.
"I have had successful talks with General Secretary Xi Jinping on developing relations between the two parties and the two countries, our respective domestic situation, maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and other issues," Kim was quoted as having said at the banquet.
Relations between China and North Korea had soured as Beijing has backed tough United Nations sanctions to punish Pyongyang for its missile and nuclear tests.
"Both Comrade Chairman and I have personally experienced and witnessed the development of China-DPRK relationship," Xi said, using the initials for North Korea's official name.
"This is a strategic choice and the only right choice both sides have made based on history and reality.... This should not and will not change because of any single event at a particular time," he added.
The meeting between Kim and Xi came ahead of a meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, which Trump agreed to earlier this month. The meeting is to take place by May.
Trump later said he anticipates "tremendous success" in the meeting. The White House has stressed, however, that any meeting between Trump and Kim would be conditioned on “concrete actions” by Pyongyang.
North Korea has been seeking to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Trump and Kim have taunted each other through the media in recent months.
In the most recent of its ongoing missile tests, North Korea launched a Hwasong-15 missile, a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which officials said can fly over 13,000 km (8,080 miles).
Pyongyang said following the launch that it had test-fired its most advanced missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range, and also declared itself to be "a responsible nuclear power".