An envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set off for China on Wednesday, the first such trip since Kim succeeded his late father, Kim Jong II, North Korean state media said.
Choe Ryong Hae, a military leader with close ties to the Kim family, left Pyongyang by air for the visit, Chinese media quoted the official Korean Central News Agency as saying.
The visit would be the first to China by a North Korean envoy since Kim took power after the death of his father in December 2011.
The reports gave no details of Choe’s itinerary in China, and the visit was not immediately confirmed by the Chinese government.
It falls as China, the United States and other nations are trying to persuade North Korea to return to stalled multilateral negotiations on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.