Li Qiang, premier of the State Council, is said to have arrived in Pyongyang on the 9th to attend the 80th anniversary events for the founding of North Korea's Workers' Party, representing China. Premier Li ranks second in China's official hierarchy.
According to China's Xinhua News Agency, Premier Li, at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the North Korean government, is leading a Chinese delegation to attend the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Workers' Party and will pay an official friendly visit to North Korea. The agency said Li departed Beijing on the morning of the 9th by chartered plane and arrived around noon at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport.
On the North Korean side, Premier Pak Thae-song came to the airport with senior party and government officials to greet Premier Li and then held a welcome ceremony, and Premier Li Qiang reviewed the honor guard with Premier Pak Thae-song.
Premier Li said, "China and the DPRK (North Korea) are socialist neighbors connected by mountains and rivers and have deep and solid traditional friendship," adding, "In recent years, under the strategic leadership and direct impetus of General Secretary Xi Jinping and General Secretary Kim Jong Un, bilateral relations have shown new, vigorous vitality."
He then added, "China is willing to work with the DPRK (North Korea) to faithfully implement the important common understandings (agreements) reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, strengthen strategic communication, and maintain close exchanges," Xinhua reported.
Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Workers' Party's founding on the 10th, North Korea, marking a major anniversary that is emphasized in the socialist sphere (years divisible by five or 10), has prepared large-scale commemorative events and sent invitations to high-level officials from various countries.
In response, in Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council and chairman of the United Russia party, a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, and in Vietnam, To Lam, the Communist Party of Vietnam general secretary and the country's top-ranked leader, will pay a state visit to North Korea for three days.
Some had speculated that Chinese President Xi Jinping might visit Pyongyang on the occasion of the anniversary events, but it appears the Chinese delegation will be led by Premier Li. Considering that Liu Yunshan, the head of the Communist Party's Secretariat (a member of the Politburo Standing Committee) and fifth in the power hierarchy, visited North Korea for the 70th anniversary military parade in 2015, this is a higher level, and an official friendly visit by a Chinese premier is the first in about 16 years.