Yang Jiechi, a senior Chinese government official, will visit Busan this week for talks with Suh Hoon, director of presidential national security, with President Xi Jinping's push for a trip here likely to be discussed, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.

Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, is scheduled to visit the southern port city from Friday through Saturday, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Yang, a former foreign minister, is known for his influence on diplomatic affairs.

Yang and Suh will hold talks on Saturday, during which they are expected to discuss Xi's plan to travel to South Korea. Xi earlier promised to visit South Korea within this year, but there has been no announcement of the schedule.

The two "plan to have talks on Saturday morning and luncheon consultations and to exchange opinions on issues of mutual concern such as South Korea-China coronavirus response cooperation, bilateral relations including high-level exchanges as well as the Korean Peninsula and international security situations," Kang said at a press briefing.

A Cheong Wa Dae official later told reporters that, "The issue of President Xi's visit to South Korea is expected to be among major agenda items as well."

Seoul and Beijing have been consulting on the matter so that Xi can visit here "at an appropriate time" as soon as the COVID-19 situation is "stabilized," he noted.

The choice of Busan as the venue came in consideration of Yang's itinerary and request and has "nothing to do with the recent spread of the coronavirus," he added.

It would be Yang's first visit to South Korea in more than two years. He doubles as director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee.

He's meeting Suh for the first time since Suh assumed the Cheong Wa Dae post in early July. (Yonhap)