Top legislator Li Zhanshu will lead a delegation to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Saturday as the special representative of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the country's president.

He will also attend events celebrating the 70th anniversary of the DPRK's founding. The CPC Central Committee's International Department announced the visit on Tuesday.

Li is 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.

Li's visit, at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the DPRK government, comes after DPRK leader Kim Jong-un's three trips to China this year.

Li's trip will be the first time in nearly three years that a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee has visited Pyongyang.