One of the main breakthroughs from the informal summit between the leaders of China and the US was that Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping did agree to work together on keeping North Korea in check and the Korean peninsula nuclear free, writes George Koo.

Despite a strenuous past between the U.S. and China regarding North Korea, recent months have shown a change from the Chinese government. As Chinese criticism of Pyongyang has come with other pressures from China, there may be reason for U.S. leaders to be optimistic about a partnership in the issue.

As Presidents Obama and Xi prepare for their upcoming meeting in California, Ren Xiao asks whether North Korea is an asset for China or a liability and claims that this continues to pose a fundamental question for Beijing.

While tensions on the Korean Peninsula have slowly began to dissipate, Nathan Beuchamp-Mustafaga delves into the complex issue of how China uses North Korea as leverage in the U.S.-China relationship and provides policy responses for the United States.

How China and the U.S. relationship benefits from the provocative behavior from North Korea remains to be seen. Yet in a meeting between John Kerry and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, an agreement was reached on finding a peaceful way to ensure a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

North Korea’s third nuclear test has dealt a death blow to any remaining illusions that Pyongyang can be persuaded to give up its fledgling nuclear weapons capability. J. Stapleton Roy writes that both Beijing and Washington need to rethink their policies in the face of this reality.

The world’s task in addressing North Korea’s saber rattling is made no easier by the fact that it confronts an impoverished and effectively defeated country.

North Korea’s satellite launch and subsequent nuclear test has greatly increased concerns that conflict could quickly spread across the Korean peninsula. Ted Galen Carpenter writes that without meaningful concessions by the United States, China will continue to give Kim Jong-un a free pass and limit the enforcement of UN sanctions.

Bilateral cooperation on Resolution 2094 ushered in a good start for the relationship under the new Chinese leadership and the start of President Obama’s second term.

Following North Korea’s third nuclear test, Dr. Andrei Lankov writes that China’s strategic goals for its rogue ally are defined by “three no’s.” Unfortunately for the international community, a nuclear North Korea rests at the bottom of this list.