China top legislator to attend Eastern Economic Forum

China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu is set to attend the seventh Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok this week, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, becoming the most senior Chinese official to visit Russia since the Ukraine war began.

Li, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, will pay official visits to Russia, Mongolia, Nepal and South Korea from Wednesday to Sept 17, according to Xinhua. He will attend the four-day forum, set to begin on Monday, during his stay in Russia, it said.

Li, currently ranked No.3 in the Chinese Communist Party, is due to retire from his Party position at a Party congress next month, but will keep his parliamentary position until March.

China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin announced a “no limit” strategic partnership in February, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in what Putin calls “a special military operation.