The Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that the fifth round of six-party talks will begin on November 9 in Beijing.

The talks, aimed at resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, involve China, the US, Russia, Japan, North and South Korea. The first round of talks was held in August 2003 in Beijing.

At a regular press conference, the ministry's spokesperson Kong Quan did not say how long the negotiations would last, but said that "holding the talks by phases this time around could have a better result" as chief negotiators might also be attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit slated for mid-November in Pusan, South Korea.

Experience has also shown that it is a "good idea" to hold the talks in phases, he added.

"We hope the participants in the new round of negotiations could have an in-depth exchange of views on the consensus reached in the last round," he said.

"If all parties could take commitment to commitment and action to action based on the joint statement reached at the last round, and earnestly push forward the discussion and agree to take further steps, there would be positive results," Kong said.

The last round of talks ended on September 19 with the adoption of a first joint statement. North Korea pledged in the statement to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and return, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

According to the statement, the US affirms that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention of attacking or invading North Korea with nuclear or conventional weapons.

Frequent multilateral and bilateral contacts have been made since the end of the last round. Although this fifth round will be difficult, all parties still hope it will achieve progress and are trying to create a good atmosphere for the upcoming talks.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told visiting President Hu Jintao last weekend that his country would go ahead with the fifth round of talks as scheduled.

North Korea and Japan held bilateral talks yesterday in Beijing. North Korean chief delegate Song Il-ho and his Japanese counterpart Akitaka Saiki, also deputy head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, discussed the issue left over from the past as well as the upcoming six-party talks.

"We don't think the six-party talks are the best arena for North Korea and Japan to discuss the issue left over from history, and they should consult with each other within the bilateral framework," Kong said. 

Turning to Sino-US relations, Kong said US President George W. Bush will meet with Chinese leaders during his upcoming visit.

Kong said Bush will hold talks with Hu and meet with Premier Wen Jiabao respectively.

It is the fifth meeting between Hu and Bush, Kong noted, adding that the two sides are expected to exchange views and reach a consensus on bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of common concern.

Bush is scheduled to visit China from November 19 to 21 after attending the APEC summit.

Kong announced that, at the invitation of the Tunisian government and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Vice Premier Huang Ju will attend the Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society.

At the invitation of the Equatorial Cuinean government, President Festus Nogae of Botswana and Prime Minister Jacques Sylla of Madagascar, Huang will also visit the three countries from November 14 to 24, Kong said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2005)