BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua/China Daily)-- Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, a special envoy for President Hu Jintao, arrived in Pyongyang yesterday to pave the way for a new round of Six-Party Talks on nuclear disarmament.

He met with Pak Bong Ju, premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on "important issues of common concern."

The three-day visit comes ahead of the expected resumption of the Six-Party Talks and two days after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice concluded a 20-hour visit to Beijing on Sunday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao confirmed yesterday that resumption of negotiations on the DPRK's nuclear development programme would be high on Tang's agenda. He said China, host of the Six-Party Talks, had begun arrangements for the meeting, and although no exact date had been set, talks are expected to take place during the week beginning July 25.

He said China would like to see the fourth round of talks produce "practical" results. "On the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, no matter how complicated, we are confident that dialogue and diplomacy can solve the problems," he said.

Negotiations between China, the DPRK, the US, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan began in August 2003 but have been stalled for a year after the third round in June 2004, with the DPRK blaming US hostility.

Japan and the United States are hopeful that upcoming talks will be successful.

"We are both hopeful the talks will be successful.... But what we really need is a strategic decision on the part of the North (DPRK) that they are indeed ready to give up their nuclear weapons, because without that, the talks cannot be successful," Rice told a press conference after her talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura yesterday.

Machimura said it was important for the DPRK to participate in the fresh round of talks in a "serious and constructive manner."

Japan, the ROK and the United States will hold a high-level meeting later this week in Seoul to discuss co-ordination in issues concerning the DPRK. The three countries have previously held similar strategy talks when there were significant developments concerning the peninsula's nuclear issue. enditem