The foreign ministry also called for flexibility and to refrain from actions that would complicate the issue.

"As far as the February 10 statement of the DPRK (North Korea), we are still analyzing and researching it," spokesman Kong Quan said in his first formal briefing following China's week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

"What I want to stress is that the Chinese side adheres to the principle of a nuclear weapons-free Korean peninsula and our position in this regard is consistent."

North Korea announced last week that it had produced nuclear weapons and was withdrawing indefinitely from the talks that also include the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

China, North Korea's strongest ally, has maintained close contact with Pyongyang since then and reiterated its position while urging the regime to resume multinational dialogue, he said.

He said addressing North Korea's security concerns was key to bringing the Stalinist state back to the negotiating table and ending the 28-month nuclear standoff.

"Regarding the nuclear issue and the DPRK's legitimate security concerns, we believe that we should properly address the issue with the efforts of all parties and within the current six-party talk framework," he said.

"All parties should demonstrate patience and flexibility to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties."

Beijing has hosted three rounds of talks so far but a fourth round scheduled for last September was shunned by North Korea because of the United States' "hostile polices".

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing was meeting separately Thursday in Beijing with Christopher Hill, the top US representative in the talks, and South Korea's chief negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon, he said.

The meetings come ahead of a trip by Wang Jiarui, the head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department, to Pyongyang "this week", Kong added.

He refused to say if Wang would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, but underscored Beijing's position that the key to getting the talks going again largely rested with the United States and North Korea.

"We believe the efforts by China and South Korea are not enough, efforts by China, South Korea, Japan and Russia are not enough," Kong said.

"We believe that most important is the efforts by the United States and North Korea."

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