Amid media reports speculating North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s visit to China is imminent, the Chinese Foreign Ministry says he is unaware of such information.

Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Thursday told a regular news briefing that China's Communist Party and North Korea's Workers' Party have maintained a tradition of exchanges and visits between the two sides.
China's Foreign Ministry has responded this way every time it was asked about the matter ahead of the North Korean leader’s previous trips to Bejing.

The comment is China's first official response amid media reports of Kim's imminent visit to China.