General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and President Hu Jintao left Beijing Friday morning for an official goodwill visit to North Korea.

Hu pays the visit at the invitation of Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea.

Hu's entourage included Wang Gang, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Wang Huning, director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Hongcai, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Commerce Minister Liao Xiaoqi, and Chen Shiju, director of President's Office.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2005)