(Bloomberg) -- China is sending its highest-level delegation to North Korea in nearly five years for a trip starting Thursday that comes as Pyongyang has drawn closer to Russia.

Zhao Leji, China’s No. 3 official, will head the delegation for a “goodwill visit” at the invitation of Pyongyang, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The delegation will be in North Korea until Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

Zhao will be the highest-ranking official to visit the North Korean capital since President Xi Jinping went in June 2019 and told leader Kim Jong Un the world wanted him to make progress in nuclear talks. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing on Tuesday that sending the high-level delegation on an official goodwill visit “reflects the deep friendship between our two countries and the great importance China attaches to it.”

In January, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong visited Pyongyang for talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and agreed to strengthen strategic communication. 

China has been North Korea’s biggest benefactor for years, providing a lifeline that has keeps its economy afloat. The US and its partners have been pressing China to use its influence on North Korea to rein in Kim’s nuclear ambitions.

The US, South Korea and others in recent months have said Kim is receiving massive amounts of aid from Russia in exchange for transfers of weapons for use by the Kremlin’s forces in its war on Ukraine. 

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the charges despite a multitude of satellite photos released by research groups and the US government showing the flow of arms from North Korea to Russia and then to munitions dumps near the border with Ukraine.

North Korea has been touting its close ties to Moscow in state media. Last month, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to extend a panel of experts that has reported on North Korea’s nuclear development for 15 years, while China abstained. 

Russia and China both sent high-level delegations to Pyongyang in July last year to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of Korean War fighting. The Russian delegation was led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who received a personal tour of a display of North Korea’s latest weaponry guided by Kim. China’s delegation was led by Li Hongzhong, a member of the 24-member Politburo.

--With assistance from Jing Li and Colum Murphy.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.