Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in North Korea on Thursday to join 80th anniversary celebrations of the DPRK’s ruling party, which are expected to include a large-scale military parade through the capital.

In a two-sentence report, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency stated that Li is visiting North Korea at the invitation of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the DPRK government. 

Beijing’s foreign ministry previously announced that the No. 2 party official will visit from Oct. 9 to 11.

Li’s trip comes a week after he metNorth Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui in Beijing for talks on