North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived for a two-day visit in China, where he is expected to discuss with Chinese leaders his next steps after his summit with US President Donald Trump.

Kim's visit beginning on Tuesday is the third trip he made to China in three months, and comes exactly a week after his historic meeting with the US leader in Singapore on June 12.

Trump agreed to work with Kim toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, committed to provide the North's regime with security guarantees and pledged to end "war games", which Pyongyang and Beijing have long seen as provocative.

On Tuesday South Korea and the Pentagon announced they would halt the annual Freedom Guardian military drill scheduled for August.

Chinese media confirmed Kim's visit to Beijing, and the state-run CCTV said the North Korean leader will stay in China from Tuesday to Wednesday. It did not provide more details.

Kim reportedly took an Air Koryo flight to Beijing, and headed straight to the Diaoyutai state guest house, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.  

Chinese President Xi Jinping "is exerting a lot of influence from behind the scenes," said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Glaser said it was predictable Xi would want to be briefed by Kim directly about the North Korean leader's talks with Trump.

"I expect they will talk about the path going forward and where priorities should lie," Glaser said.

Those priorities, from China's perspective, would be to ensure that Beijing is included in any peace treaty talks and for creating an environment on the Korean Peninsula that will make it unnecessary for US troops to remain.

Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies in Beijing, said the frequency of Kim's visits was "unprecedented." He noted that unlike on previous visits, China's state broadcaster CCTV announced Kim's visit before his departure.

"This is an improvement. This shows that China is moving toward a healthier and more normal direction in relations with North Korea," Cheng said.

Al Jazeera