Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie arrived in the North Korean capital on Sunday, broadcaster APTN reported from Pyongyang. He is the latest high-level Chinese official to visit North Korea as the two communist nations mark the 60th anniversary of their relationship.

China, which backed North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, is the country's main source of economic aid and diplomatic support.

"No force on earth can break the unity of the armies and peoples of the two countries, and it will last forever," Liang told a welcoming banquet Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported in a dispatch monitored in Seoul.

Liang said China will aim to further consolidate bilateral ties.

North Korea's defense chief, Kim Yong Chun, earlier joined Liang in inspecting an honor guard, according to footage aired by APTN in Pyongyang.

Liang's trip comes as pressure mounts on North Korea to rejoin international negotiations on dismantling the regime's nuclear program.

North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test in May and test-fired a series of missiles, abandoned the talks earlier this year.

President Barack Obama announced in Seoul last week that he would send a special envoy to Pyongyang on Dec. 8 to discuss restarting the six-nation talks hosted by China and also involving Japan, South Korea and Russia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has said Pyongyang may consider rejoining the talks depending on the outcome of direct talks with the United States.

China has invited the 67-year-old leader to visit Beijing "at a convenient time," state media said, but it's not clear whether he has responded to the invitation. Kim rarely travels outside the country, and last visited China in 2006.