Li Qiang, China's No. 2 in the power hierarchy and premier of the China State Council, will visit North Korea to attend events celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party, North Korean and Chinese authorities said.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 7th that, at the invitation of the North Korean government, Premier Li will lead a party and government delegation to attend the celebrations and will pay an official friendly visit to North Korea.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced on its website the same day that, "At the invitation of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Li Qiang, premier of the China State Council, will lead a Chinese party and government delegation from the 9th to the 11th to attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea and will pay an official friendly visit to North Korea."
By contrast, at the military parade in Pyongyang marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party in 2015, Liu Yunshan, then No. 5 in China's power ranking and a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and the secretary of the Secretariat, visited North Korea—making this visit clearly higher in rank.
There had been speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping might visit Pyongyang this time, but he is not expected to go and instead is expected to visit Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju later this month.
After Xi invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to China's Victory Day events held in early last month in Beijing and sought to shore up North Korea–China ties that had cooled amid the North Korea–Russia closeness, Beijing is seen as showing sincerity by dispatching the No. 2, Premier Li, as head of the delegation.