North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.

The two held a summit at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital at around 6:30 pm Wednesday. The talks were also reportedly attended by senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party and top North Korean officials including Kim Yang-gon, head of the United Front Department of the North's Workers' Party.

No details of their discussions have been released, but the two leaders are presumed to have discussed resuming the six-party nuclear talks and Beijing's economic aid for the impoverished North. Analysts in Seoul also speculate that the two leaders may have exchanged opinions about the sinking of South Korea's “Cheonan” naval warship in the Yellow Sea in late March.

After the one-hour meeting, Hu hosted a dinner for Kim and his entourage.

The North Korean leader and his delegation arrived in Beijing from Tianjin earlier in the day. KBS television footage showed a motorcade of about 30 vehicles carrying the North Korean leader and entourage through the heart of Beijing on Wednesday afternoon.

The Chinese government has yet to officially confirm the North Korean leader's visit to China, which began on Monday.

Before arriving in Beijing, Kim visited two northeastern Chinese port cities, Dalian and Tianjin.

The reclusive North Korean leader's visit comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the sinking of the Cheonan warship, which Seoul suspects was perpetrated by the North.