China hopes for early resumption of six-party talks

A Foreign Ministry spokesman on Wednesday expressed China's hope that the parties involved in the six-party talks will maintain contact, continue their efforts to solve differences through negotiation and create conditions for the early resumption of the talks.

China is ready to make constructive efforts with all relevant parties to this end, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular press briefing in response to a question concerning an upcoming dialogue to be held in Beijing between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States.

Safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and promoting the denuclearization of the peninsula conforms with the common interests of all parties and is the common aspiration of the international community, Hong said.

China believes the six-party talks are the most effective method of solving all parties' concerns in a balanced way, realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula and protecting peace and stability on the peninsula, he said.

An interagency team of U.S. officials led by U.S. Special Representative for DPRK Policy Glyn Davies will meet with a DPRK delegation led by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan in Beijing on Feb. 23, according to the U.S. State Department.

The six-party talks, which involve the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, were launched in 2003, but were stalled in December 2008. The DPRK quit the talks in April 2009.