BEIJING, June 8 -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, left Beijing on Monday for a state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Xi's trip is at the invitation of Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan, Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and foreign minister.