Ranked fourth in the hierarchy of the Chinese politburo, Jia leads the People Political Consultative Conference, one of the highest-level senate-like authorities in the world most populous nation along with the National People Congress.
His talks with Korean leaders will likely be dominated by the stalled six-party talks on North Korea nuclear standoff as well as the recent history dispute on Koguryo and bilateral economic cooperation between Seoul and Beijing.
One of the closest confidants to former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who still exerts significant influence in the nation, sources cautiously expected Jia to convey messages from Jiang and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Jia is scheduled to pay a courtesy call to Roh and have a luncheon meeting today. Before that, he will meet Assembly Speaker Kim, who invited him to discuss pending issues such as the history dispute, which has been placed to one side for the moment after a verbal agreement on Tuesday.
Jia, well known for his role in promoting economic cooperation between the two neighboring countries, will have lunch with the heads of four major economic organizations Saturday and visit major industrial sites, including Samsung Electronics Co., POSCO and Hyundai Motor Co.
/ By The Korea Times