US chief negotiator Christopher Hill to the six-party talks said on Friday morning that the US expected China to "circulate a draft joint statement" to provide specific measures of the implementation action for the next phase.

All the six parties are still discussing details of the draft statement, he added.

Hill said the disabling of nuclear facilities in North Korea is one step on the way of realizing the "irreversible" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The process is "difficult" and requires the concerted efforts of all the parties, he added.

He said the US will not hold any bilateral meeting with the other parties on Friday as the six-way meeting is scheduled for the full day.

The ongoing six-party talks is scheduled to run from Thursday through Sunday.

The first phase of the current round of the talks was held in March this year in Beijing, which was concluded with a chairman statement.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2007)