North Korea's Kim greets China's Wen at start of trip

Chinese officials have given few details about Wen's itinerary. But the retinue of senior Chinese officials travelling with Wen gave some idea of his broad agenda.

According to Xinhua, they included Commerce Minister Chen Deming, National Development and Reform Commission chief Zhang Ping, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, and a senior military officer, Liu Zhenqi.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Thursday the two sides will sign agreements on trade, education and tourism during Wen's visit.

The six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States ground to a halt about a year ago, with Pyongyang saying it will boycott the sessions aimed at curtailing its nuclear weapons ambitions in return for aid.

North Korea in recent months has reached out to regional powers, including the United States, after being hit with U.N. sanctions for the nuclear test in May.

Last month, Kim Jong-il told a visiting envoy from China he would work to end his state's nuclear arms programme through multilateral talks. But many observers doubt North Korea is willing to make real steps towards disarmament.

"China won't be offering unconditional economic support to North Korea," said Zhu, the professor. "It will be linked, indirectly at least, to progress on the nuclear issue."

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