Premier Li Qiang “will lead a party and government delegation to the DPRK… and pay an official goodwill visit from October 9 to 11,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement, using an official acronym for North Korea.

Li will attend 80th anniversary celebrations for North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, the statement said.

Despite periods of strained ties between China and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, the neighbours have maintained a close relationship in recent years.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi called on his North Korean counterpart to strengthen the partnership during a meeting in Beijing late last month.

Just weeks before, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid a rare visit to the capital city, where he stood alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.