The non-committal notes from Washington came as a delegation led by China's top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei met US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and other State Department officials.

The Chinese "shared their perspective on where we are, their interpretation of what needs to be done based on their high-level conversations with North Korean leaders," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

"We have our own ideas. We'll be consulting further. We'll be sharing our ideas at some point with our partners in this process," Crowley said, adding the group would "chart a way forward" together.

Wu visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang last month to discuss the resumption of the six-party talks, which the North quit in April 2009 in protest at the UN's condemnation of an apparent missile test.

During a trip to Seoul on August 26, Wu said: "We think six-party talks are an effective resolution to achieve denuclearization on the Korean peninsula and achieve peace in Northeast Asia."

The six-way talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

Crowley has declined to rule out a resumption of the nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea following meetings at the UN General Assembly late this month.

But he repeated Wednesday that the United States wants to see unspecified actions from North Korea that would make renewed talks worthwhile while also calling for an end to North Korean provocations.

A key obstacle to restarting disarmament talks is the sinking in March of a South Korean corvette, with the deaths of 46 sailors, an attack both South Korea and the United States blamed on North Korea.

But Crowley did not make clear whether an apology for the incident -- as demanded by South Korea -- would be required.

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