North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has officially crossed into China, as reported by the North’s state-run radio.

This trip is a rare outing for Kim, who is one of 26 heads of state set to attend a military parade in Beijing, marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

If the visit proceeds as planned it will be notable for bringing together Kim, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping at the same event for the first time.

On Monday, Xi and Putin criticised the West during a meeting of Eurasian leaders in Tianjin, just south of Beijing.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which includes 10 countries in the region, aims to provide a non-Western alternative to traditional alliances.

Kim’s participation is seen as a way to publicly formalise the trilateral relationship between China, Russia and North Korea.

Kim previously engaged in highly-profile diplomacy in 2018, meeting with US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in several times.

However, he retreated from the international stage after a failed summit with Trump in Hanoi in 2019.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Kim remained in North Korea but met with Putin in Russia’s far east in 2023.