Chinese Communist Party 'Rank 3' Li Zhanshu, Standing Committee Chairman, Scheduled to Visit South Korea from 15th to 17th

Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC)
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Li Zhanshu, the third-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), will visit South Korea from the 15th to the 17th. Chairman Li is scheduled to hold a Korea-China parliamentary speaker meeting with National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and discuss cooperation plans to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

This visit by the Chinese Standing Committee Chairman is the first in seven years since former Chairman Zhang Dejiang's visit in 2015. The visit follows an invitation from Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and is largely a reciprocal visit to the one made by then-Speaker Park Byeong-seok to China in early February. At that time, former Speaker Park attended the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony upon Chairman Li's invitation.

Speaker Kim plans to hold a meeting for about an hour at the National Assembly reception room at 2 p.m. on the 16th, followed by a joint press conference. A dinner will also be held at the Speaker’s official residence. It is reported that Chairman Li will also pay a courtesy call on President Yoon Suk-yeol after the parliamentary speaker meeting.

Chairman Li’s delegation consists of a total of 66 members. The delegation includes four minister-level officials: Yang Zhenwu, Secretary-General of the NPC Standing Committee; Wu Yuliang, Director of the NPC Supervisory and Judicial Committee; Xu Xiaosu, Director of the NPC Financial and Economic Committee; and Zhang Yesui, Director of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as three vice-minister-level officials. The airport reception will be handled by Lee Kwang-jae, Secretary-General of the National Assembly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.