Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi appears to have returned home on Wednesday after a three-day visit to Pyongyang without meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The North’s primary state-run paper, the Rodong Sinmun, said on Thursday that Ri Su-yong, vice chair of the Workers' Party Central Committee, met with the top Chinese diplomat on Wednesday and held talks in a friendly atmosphere. 

Reporting on the meeting, the daily said Wang asked Ri to extend Chinese President Xi Jinping's greetings to Kim, a possible indication that the opportunity to relay such regards in person did not present itself.

Wang reportedly expressed hope that the two nations will further enhance and develop their friendly relations through mutual efforts.

In response, Ri stressed that traditional North Korea-China relations, built on friendship and cooperation, should be developed to reach a "new high stage” this year as the two mark the 70th anniversary of official diplomatic relations.