Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese president, left Beijing Thursday morning for a state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Xi is paying the visit at the invitation of Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK.

Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan; Ding Xuexiang, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee; State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi; and He Lifeng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the National Development and Reform Commission.