China confirmed Thursday it will host six-way talks late this month on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, saying they marked "an important step forward" in efforts to defuse the 10-month standoff.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the talks would take place from August 27 to 29 in Beijing, bringing together the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

"The convocation of the meeting represents an important step towards a peaceful resolution of the Korean nuclear issue," the statement said.

"As the host, China stands ready to make all the preparations and work with the other parties to promote the process of dialogue so as to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

The announcement followed a flurry of diplomatic activities to restart talks on the standoff, which erupted last October after US officials claimed Pyongyang had admitted to reviving a program to produce atomic weapons.

The United States, Japan and the ROK met in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, preparing for the six-way talks.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing visited Seoul on Wednesday after his Japan trip, and envoys from the DPRK and the ROK held separate meetings in Moscow.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Losiukov held in-depth discussions on the issue on Monday.

Earlier this month, Wang also visited the DPRK and exchanged views on the issue.

Beijing hosted initial talks with Washington and Pyongyang in April, but no details were given out by the participants.

Piao Jianyi, executive director of the Centre for Korean Peninsula Issues Studies of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that currently the first step is for the DPRK and the United States to build mutual trust so that an agreement would become possible.

"One can optimistically estimate that they (the DPRK and the US) may reach an oral agreement after a long hard negotiation," Piao said, adding that the coming talks were just a beginning and the process to resolve the differences on the issue might take a long time.

(China Daily August 15, 2003)