China knew nothing in advance about what Pyongyang described as a hydrogen bomb test on Wednesday morning, the Foreign Ministry said.

"The Chinese knew nothing in advance about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear test," the ministry's spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing, a few hours after the test occurred.

Asked about possible international sanctions on the DPRK, Hua said China will continue to fulfill its international obligations and contribute to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.