China is willing to work with all concerned parties, including the United States, to resume at an early date the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, President Hu Jintao said Sunday.

In a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Hu said China, while insisting that Korean Peninsula should be nuclear weapons-free, is devoting itself to solving the nuclear issue through the six-party talks, and to safeguarding peace and stability there.

This stance of China is firm and unshakable, Hu stressed.

Rice spoke highly of China's important role in the progress of six-party talks and briefed Hu on the US viewpoints on this matter. She reiterated that the United States also regarded the six-party talks as the best way to solve the nuclear issue.

Rice arrived here earlier Sunday as guest of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. And China is the last leg of Rice's Asian tour, which has already taken her to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan,Japan and the Republic of Korea.