The broadly defined North Korean problem has for years been a key challenge to security in Northeast Asia. Relations between China and North Korea are an issue that has been resurfacing on a regular basis in the debate on the resolution of the problems in the Korean Peninsula. Because of numerous accumulated problems, resulting from, among others, the Pyongyang’s actions, the relations with the DPRK have become a challenge for the foreign policy of the PRC in the 21st century. The dilemmas faced by Chinese leadership in its North Korean policy, increasingly more serious, are reflected in the discussion on this subject in the Chinese academic and expert circles. The purpose of this article is to present selected views and opinions of Chinese scholars and experts on North Korea and the PRC’s foreign policy towards the DPRK. In the author’s opinion, the expert discourse signals actual problems and challenges faced by China’s North Korean policy. The disclosure of the debate can be perceived as a specific signal sent by the authorities in Beijing the regime in Pyongyang as well as to the key actors interested in the North Korean problem in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo and Moscow. We should also consider whether and to what extent the critical signals coming from the expert circles may translate to a possible redefinition of the principles and directions of China’s foreign policy towards North Korea.