China willing to restart Six-Party Talks on Korean nuke issue

China would like to enhance communication with all related parties, including the United States, for the restart of negotiations on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday.

Mentioning that State Councilor Yang Jiechi had made a phone call to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, the spokesman said that China is willing to push forward the restart of the Six-Party Talks - referring to the talks involving China, the US, the DPRK, the ROK, Japan and Russia - on the basis of taking all sides' concerns into consideration.

"China is dedicated to breaking the negative circle of the (Korean) Peninsula issue," Geng said at a regular news conference.

Under the Six-Party Talks framework, the DPRK agreed in 2005 to suspend its nuclear program. However, the talks collapsed after the last round in 2008, with the DPRK declaring the deal void after refusing inspections to verify compliance, which led to a series of new sanctions on Pyongyang, as well as international condemnation.

China is willing to make joint efforts with all related sides to play a constructive role in handling the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and maintaining the stability of the region, Geng said.