Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in North Korea on Wednesday as Beijing tries to mend fences with its nuclear-armed neighbor and as Seoul and Pyongyang look to improve relations in wake of last week’s historic inter-Korean summit. The two-day visit is the first by a Chinese foreign minister since 2007, a lapse that highlights the rough patch that relations between the allies have gone through in recent years. It also precedes a potential meeting between the Norths leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in coming weeks. Wang, who will meet his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho during his stay, was greeted by vice foreign minister Ri Kil Song and other officials at Pyongyang airport. The two top diplomats met in Beijing last month, days after Kim traveled to China for talks with President Xi Jinping. It was Kims first overseas trip since he took power in 2011 and came amid signs of a diplomatic thaw. China -- North Koreas sole diplomatic ally and economic benefactor -- has supported a series of United Nations sanctions against the North over its nuclear and missile programs. Last year the North staged its most powerful nuclear test to date and launched missiles capable of reaching the US mainland as Kim and Trump traded threats of war and personal insults, sparking global security fears. Experts say China is now likely eager to avoid being marginalized in the wave of diplomacy that led to last Fridays historic summit between Kim and the Souths President Moon Jae-In. Kim is expected to meet Trump in the coming weeks at a time and place yet to be announced. The North Korean leader has also invited Xi to visit Pyongyang but no date has been set. In South Korea, its finance minister said on Wednesday the government was discussing how to finance possible economic projects with North Korea, although any projects with Pyongyang must first be approved by the international community. “We’re internally carrying out preparations, in terms of what to prepare, and how to cooperate with the international community, and how to finance (possible inter-Korea projects),” Kim Dong-yeon told reporters in Sejong. “But we need support from the international community and need to watch the (upcoming) summit between the United States and North Korea,” Kim said, without elaborating on specifics of any government financing. His comments come after Moon and Kim agreed last Friday on a common goal of a “nuclear free” peninsula, and to “adopt practical steps towards the connection and modernization of the railways and roads”. Many speculate that the two Koreas will start joint infrastructure projects as soon as international sanctions on North Korea are lifted. Currently, North Korea is under sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council to stop its nuclear weapons and missiles programs.