Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao will lead a delegation to North Korea on Thursday for a four-day visit, state media reported.
It will the highest-level visit to North Korea by a Chinese official since Kim Jong Un took over as leader of the communist state in December 2011.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Li would attend activities in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, Xinhua news agency reported.
The visit comes at a time of heightened tension in the region over North Korea's nuclear tests and subsequent sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.