China hopes that the visit of U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will promote the six-party talks process, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press conference here Thursday that he hopes the visit will help all sides make progress with the implementation of the initial steps, and help improve U.S.-DPRK relations.

The improvement of bilateral relations will benefit peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia, Qin said.

Hill, also assistant secretary of state, flew to the DPRK Thursday morning and will stay for two days. He paid a visit to China on Monday and talked with top Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei.

Qin said that the date and modalities of the talks have not yet been settled by the six sides.

The six-party talks involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan have already been through six rounds, with the last one in this March.

Under an agreement adopted by the six parties on Feb. 13, the DPRK was supposed to shut down and seal off its Yongbyon nuclear facilities within 60 days in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.

The DPRK, which missed the April 14 deadline, insisted that its 25 million dollars frozen at the Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macao-based bank, must be returned before closing the Yongbyon facilities and starting new negotiations.

The DPRK funds were frozen after the United States blacklisted the bank in September 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder money, an allegation denied by the bank.

Earlier this month, the BDA, where the DPRK funds are frozen, had almost completed the transfer of more than 20 million U.S. dollars of DPRK money out of Macao.

Source: Xinhua