Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said that while differences remained between North Korea and the United States, there was reason to be upbeat.

"The Korean peninsula nuclear question, no matter how complicated it is, no matter how many twists there are in the progress, we have faith to resolve this complicated issue through dialogue and diplomatic efforts," he said.

"Hence, we can say that the road is bright."

But Liu also acknowledged that it could be a long time before issues are satisfactorily resolved.

"To solve such a complicated matter, we need adequate amounts of patience and adequate mental preparation and thorough understanding is needed for something of such a complex nature," he told a press briefing.

His comments came as presidential envoy Tang Jiaxuan arrived in North Korea with the diplomatic drive to prepare for Pyongyang's return to the table moving up a gear.

"China and North Korea's friendship were established and nurtured by the older generation's leaders, it can stand the test of history," Tang was quoted by China Central Television as saying.

"We are willing to continue this tradition in regard of the future, to strengthen our policy of friendly and neighbourly cooperation," he told North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun.

The arrival of Tang, a state councillor and former foreign minister, which was reported by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, came just days after he held talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Beijing.

President Hu Jintao announced Tang's trip on Friday, a day ahead of the official announcement that the Stalinist state would return to multilateral talks in the week beginning July 25 after a 13-month deadlock.

He will remain in Pyongyang until Saturday although it was unclear if he would meet with the North's reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il or whether he was carrying any messages from the United States.

China is the North's closest ally and aid provider and has hosted three previous rounds of talks that comprise the United States, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and China.

The last round was held in June 2004. Since then they have been stalled, with Pyongyang accusing Washington of a "hostile policy" aimed at regime change in North Korea.

But in a surprise decision it agreed on Saturday to return to the negotiating table, although both the United States and China have warned it is "only the first step".

"We agreed that this is only the first step, and the real issue is to make progress in the talks," Rice told reporters on Sunday after meeting Chinese officials including Tang.

The United States wants North Korea to first declare its willingness to dismantle all its nuclear weapons programs, including plutonium and uranium, before security assurances, aid and diplomatic recognition are given.

Senior US officials said Monday that North Korea has agreed to give a detailed response to a US-led aid-for-disarmament proposal when the talks get underway.

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