NK leader tours Shanghai industrial sites

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is currently in Shanghai, sources in the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing confirmed Tuesday.

The sources said that high-ranking officials of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing went to Shanghai last Saturday to make preparations for a visit by Kim, who is also chairman of the National Defense Commission and chief secretary of the Workers' Party.

Kim¡¯s entourage included those who accompanied him on his previous China visit last May, they said.

According to the sources, Kim is scheduled to make inspection tours to the Pudong Special Economic Zone, a symbol of Shanghai and an up-to-date industrial and financial complex.

The North Korean leader also will visit an industrial complex in Guangdongsheng, another outpost of Chinese reform and openness. The sources said that Kim would stay in China for six days.

It was reported that Kim arrived in China last Saturday by a special train via Dandong, a border city.