--- description: U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to cooperate to deter the threat of a nuclear North Korea. title: U.S. and China Agree to Deter North Korea Nuclear Tests image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte718e1f639fdd9b6/69888d4ae20a872a9fa90370/gettyimages-518475058.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [diplomacy](/tag/diplomacy/) ## diplomacy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. and China Agree to Deter North Korea Nuclear Tests by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2016 4:07 AM CUT  President Obama greets Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to the Nuclear Security Summit working dinner with the heads of delegations, Washington, March 31, 2016 President Obama greets Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to the Nuclear Security Summit working dinner with the heads of delegations, Washington, March 31, 2016Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2016 4:07 AM CUT President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping [agreed](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/31/remarks-president-obama-and-president-xi-peoples-republic-china "undefined") Thursday to cooperate against the threat of a nuclear North Korea. The two leaders found the common ground on the sidelines of a [summit](http://time.com/4278085/nuclear-summit-terrorism-climate-change-barack-obama/ "undefined") in Washington where more than 50 world leaders have gathered to discuss nuclear security. “President Xi and I are both committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and full implementation of U.N. sanctions,” Obama [said](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/31/remarks-president-obama-and-president-xi-peoples-republic-china "undefined") Thursday, according to a White House statement. “We’re going to discuss how we can discourage action like nuclear missile tests that escalate tensions and violate international obligations.” Washington and Beijing both helped negotiate the stringent U.N. [sanctions](http://time.com/4244647/un-north-korea-tough-sanctions/ "undefined") on Pyongyang, which were approved in March after the hermit kingdom provoked international concern with nuclear and missile tests. Obama also met with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, [saying](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/31/remarks-president-obama-president-park-geun-hye-republic-korea-and-prime "undefined"): “We are united in our efforts to deter and defend against North Korean provocations.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4278800/north-korea-nuclear-u-s-china-cooperation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4278800/north-korea-nuclear-u-s-china-cooperation/"},"headline":"U.S. and China Agree to Deter North Korea Nuclear Tests","datePublished":"2016-04-01T04:07:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:23:45.812Z","description":"\"We're going to discuss how we can discourage action like nuclear missile tests\"","url":"https://time.com/4278800/north-korea-nuclear-u-s-china-cooperation/","keywords":["diplomacy","North Korea","Nuclear","China","U.S."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte718e1f639fdd9b6/69888d4ae20a872a9fa90370/gettyimages-518475058.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte718e1f639fdd9b6/69888d4ae20a872a9fa90370/gettyimages-518475058.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nuclear Security Summit working dinner","caption":"Nuclear Security Summit working dinner","creditText":"Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/diplomacy/","name":"diplomacy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4278800/north-korea-nuclear-u-s-china-cooperation/","name":"U.S. and China Agree to Deter North Korea Nuclear Tests"}}]}] ```