The working group meeting of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue have conducted "conducive and in-depth" discussions on the concerns of various sides, Chinese Foreign Ministry sources said Thursday.

The inaugural meeting started Wednesday morning at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in China's capital, the venue for the previous two rounds of six-party talks.

Ning Fukui, Chinese ambassador on Korean Peninsula affairs, headed the Chinese delegation and chaired the meeting.

The other delegates include Ri Gun, deputy director of Americanaffairs for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Joseph R. DeTrani, a US State Department special envoy for Korean affairs; Cho Tae-yong, head of the Republic of Korea Foreign Ministry's task force on the Korean nuclear issue; V. Sukhinin, deputy director of the first Asian Department of Russian Foreign Ministry; and Saiki Akitaika, deputydirector-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Shen Guofang, Chinese assistant foreign minister, hosted a reception to welcome the foreign envoys Tuesday evening.

It was reported that all the parties regard this meeting as an important step toward resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue,and will exchange views on various topics.