The Chinese president won’t grace North Korea’s 70th founding anniversary himself.
Chinese President Xi Jinping won’t be attending North Korea’s upcoming foundation day celebrations on September 9, Chinese state media confirmed on Monday. Instead, Xi will send Li Zhanshu, the chairman of China’s National People’s Congress, to Pyongyang as his special representative.
“China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu will head a delegation to visit the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Saturday as a special representative of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president,” China’s Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
“Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, will also attend activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK,” the report added, paraphrasing a statement by a spokesperson of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee’s International Department.
North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency confirmed that Li would visit North Korea from September 8. September 9 is the country’s 70th founding anniversary and North Korea is expected to conduct a major military parade through Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, where leader Kim Jong Un will observe.
