A top US envoy discussed the North Korean and Iranian nuclear issues with Chinese officials on Tuesday amid heightened diplomatic activity on both fronts, but neither side provided specifics of the talks, AFP reported.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg released a statement saying he had met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, and other officials in Beijing.
"In our discussion today, we focused on how we can address some of the key challenges facing the international community, from economic growth to climate change, global public health, non-proliferation, including North Korea and Iran, and combating terrorism," Steinberg's statement said.
The US envoy's visit came amid increasing signs of a possible resumption of the six-nation talks on North Korean disarmament following a series of conciliatory gestures by Pyongyang.
On Monday, China confirmed that Premier Wen Jiabao would visit North Korea next week.
Steinberg said during an earlier stop in Malaysia that Wen's visit would send a "clear message" to the North on the need to return to negotiations.
The six-party forum hosted by China also includes the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States.
North Korea quit the disarmament forum in April in protest at United Nations censure of its long-range rocket launch. It then conducted its second atomic weapons test in May, incurring stronger UN sanctions.
The hardline communist state is pressing for direct talks with Washington to end the nuclear standoff.
But this month leader Kim Jong-Il appeared to leave the door open for a return to six-party negotiations, telling a visiting Chinese envoy his country was willing to engage in bilateral and multilateral talks.
Meanwhile, Iran was preparing for nuclear talks Thursday with six world powers after Tehran shocked the world community with a series of missile tests and news that it was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Iran is set to face Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council -- plus Germany in Geneva.
The United States has demanded full access to Tehran's newly revealed uranium plant and denounced the missile tests as "provocative."
A spokesman at the US embassy in Beijing said Steinberg was to leave China later Tuesday.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman declined earlier in the day to provide specifics on the discussions Steinberg held with Chinese officials.
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