Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang addresses a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, December 12, 2007. [Photo: cnsphoto]

China's Foreign Ministry announced in Beijing on Tuesday that Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei would visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) next week to discuss the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Wu, top negotiator of the Chinese delegation to the six-party talks, would meet with his DPRK counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press conference.

Also on Tuesday, a meeting of the working group on economic and energy cooperation, one of the five working groups under the framework of the six-party talks, was held in Beijing.

The two-day meeting was led by the Republic of Korea, Qin said, adding that the main topic was to discuss relevant issues of economic and energy assistance to the DPRK.

Qin said he hoped the six parties could have a full exchange of views at the meeting.

Qin also urged the parties concerned to take advantage of the current positive momentum of the nuclear talks, express their own concerns and respect others' reasonable concerns as well, so as to promote mutual trust and produce a positive outcome from the negotiations.

The six-party talks include China, the DPRK, the United State, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan.