Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, today met with North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, paving way for the resumption of six-party talks on peacefully dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programmes.

Apart from Kim, the Chinese Foreign Minister also held a bilateral meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui Chun, and met with Premier Kim Yong Il.

During the meetings, Yang reiterated Beijing's commitment to the six-party talks mechanism and supported the efforts for the implementation of the February 13 joint declaration on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang said.

The six-party talks involve the United States, North Korea, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

China was communicating and consulting closely with the other parties on the next steps in the talks, he said when asked for fresh dates for the next round of six-way talks, hosted by China.

North Korea last week announced the dispute with the United States over USD 25 million frozen in Macao's Banco Delta Asia (BDA) has been resolved, and vowed to start implementing the disarmament deal struck in Beijing on February 13.

Under the February deal, North Korea was supposed to shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60 days in exchange for some 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.

The financial dispute between the United States and North Korea over the return of the frozen assets held up progress of the talks for months.