Officials on Tuesday confirmed what is believed to be the first visit by a senior Chinese diplomat to Pyongyang since the Democratic People's Republic of Korea conducted a nuclear test in September.

Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin is visiting the DPRK from Monday to Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang confirmed. Liu will co-chair the third meeting of the China-DPRK border joint committee with his DPRK counterpart, Lu told a regular news conference in Beijing.

The Chinese delegation laid flowers at the bronze monuments of late DPRK leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il after arriving, Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said.

On Tuesday, Liu attended a grand ceremony to mark the 66th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteers joining DPRK soldiers during the Korean War (1950-53), according to China Central Television. Senior DPRK officials and Chinese representatives went to the Korea-China Friendship Tower to lay wreaths and flowers to commemorate Chinese fighters who died in the war.

Liu's visit shows that China and the DPRK have maintained routine communications, according to the Republic of Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn