Opportunities have emerged to move the stalled six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue forward, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in Beijing Thursday.

Qin made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to U.S. special nuclear envoy Stephen Bosworth's recent China visit.

Beijing was the first leg of Bosworth's Asian tour. He is now in Seoul, and will visit Tokyo later this week.

During his stay in China, Bosworth held several-hour-long talks with Wu Dawei, China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wednesday evening.

Saying his talks with Wu were "useful," Bosworth told reporters on Wednesday night that they exchanged views of the current status and efforts to restart the six-party talks.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Bosworth on Thursday morning, also discussing issues related to the six-party talks.

"We are working and will work with other parties concerned to maintain close coordination to make joint efforts for resuming the talks at an early date," Qin told the press conference.

The on-off nuclear talks, initiated in 2003, had been stalled since the chief envoys of six countries' meeting in Beijing in December 2008.

Hosted by China, the talks also included the Democratic of People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan.