Chinese and North Korean state media on Monday confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had visited the country, where he met China's President Hu Jintao in the northeastern city of Changchun.

Kim told Hu that he remained committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and that he hoped for an early resumption of multi-lateral talks on the North's nuclear programme, Chinese state television said.

Analysts believe the trip may have been to line up Beijing behind Kim's plans to anoint his youngest son as the reclusive state's next leader. But neither Chinese media nor North Korea's official KCNA news agency made any mention of his son.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Chris Buckley; Editing by Alex Richardson)