Chinese President Xi Jinping on friday invited South Korean President Lee Jae-myung to a state visit in Beijing, signaling China’s effort to improve ties with South Korea amid regional tensions, Al Jazeera reported. South Korea’s national security adviser, Wi Sung-lac, said Lee will meet Xi on Monday in Beijing before traveling to Shanghai to visit the historic site of South Korea’s provisional government during Japan’s 35-year colonial rule.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the leaders are expected to discuss “practical cooperation” in areas such as supply-chain investment, tourism, and responses to transnational crime. Wi added that peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula will also be on the agenda. The planned visit comes less than two months after Xi’s first trip to South Korea in 11 years during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, marking an unusually quick series of reciprocal state visits. This meeting precedes upcoming talks between South Korea and Japan. Relations between China and Japan remain tense, following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November remarks suggesting a military response if China attacked Taiwan.

Wi reaffirmed South Korea’s stance on Taiwan, stating that the country “respects the one-China policy and acts accordingly,” which acknowledges Beijing’s claim over Taiwan while maintaining separate relations with the self-governing island. China’s recent live-fire exercises have further escalated tensions with Taiwan, prompting the United States to urge Beijing to ease military pressure. “China’s military actions and statements toward Taiwan and other regional actors unnecessarily raise tensions,” said Tommy Pigott, the US State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson.