Beijing is expecting the stalled nuclear disarmament talks with Pyongyang to resume before July, China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs told China Daily on Thursday.

It was the first occasion on which China openly talked about its time frame to thaw the Six-Party Talks that have been frozen since April last year.

"China's goal is to restart the Six-Party Talks in the first half of this year. That's our expectation, but it is difficult to say if this will be realized," Wu Dawei said on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The Six-Party Talks involve the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), China, Japan and Russia.

Beijing and Pyongyang held three rounds of high-level meetings in February.

The US embassy in China told China Daily on Thursday it has yet to confirm the latest information, while the embassies of the ROK and Japan did not comment on the issue. Calls to press offices with embassies of the DPRK and Russia were not answered.

Pyongyang has set two conditions for it to return to the talks - lifting UN sanctions against it and holding peace talks aimed at formally ending the 1950-1953 Korean War.

But the US, ROK and Japan said Pyongyang must first return to the talks and show notable progress before its conditions can be met.

"China is thinking about raising its own suggestions on the issue," Wu said.

Wu has served as vice-foreign minister and China's chief negotiator on the DPRK nuclear issue. He was named the special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs last month and is in charge of the Six-Party Talks.

"He is an authoritative figure on the issue. Besides, we've recently seen intense diplomatic efforts aimed at restarting the talks. There has been a consensus among the six nations including the DPRK (to return to the talks)," said Jin Canrong, associate dean of Renmin University of China's school of international relations.

"So it is highly possible for the talks to restart in the first half of this year as Wu expected," Jin said.

"I think China is now thinking about a compromise proposal, urging both the DPRK side and the US-ROK-Japan side to make some concessions to solve the problem and, at the same time, keep face for countries involved."

The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it has no relevant information about DPRK top leader Kim Jong-il's possible visit to China later this month. If confirmed, the trip will be his first one overseas in four years.

The ministry's spokesman, Qin Gang, told a press conference that the Communist Party of China and the Workers' Party of Korea have traditionally exchanged high-level visits.

"We believe this tradition can be maintained," he said.

Citing unidentified diplomatic officials in Beijing, Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday that Kim will meet President Hu Jintao to discuss aid to the DPRK as well as the nuclear issue. Kim visited China in January 2006, his most recent trip abroad.