"The Chinese side hopes the Korean peninsula can maintain peace and stability," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in response to questions about Pyongyang's move.

"All sides should remain calm and exercise restraint and commonly devote themselves to the resolution of the concerned issues through political dialogue and negotiations."

North Korea, which is boycotting six-party talks on its nuclear arms program, announced Thursday it was ending a moratorium on testing long-range missiles that it declared in 1999.

A statement by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also said that a "hostile" US policy was forcing it to develop its nuclear arsenal.

Washington said the decision was "not helpful" while Tokyo called it an "unproductive" negotiating tool.

North Korea shocked the world by firing a missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean in 1998 and calling it a satellite launch.

China has brokered three rounds of six-party talks that include the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia, but has been unable to get Pyongyang back to the table following the last round in June.

A recent flurry of diplomatic activity has seen efforts been made at restarting the talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for badly-needed aid.

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