The specific date of the third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue was still being discussed, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Tuesday.

Liu said at a regular press conference that the concerned parties had put forward some proposals on the date of the third round of six-party talks, and China will strengthen consultation with other parties so as to reach consensus soon.

China had maintained contacts with relevant parties over the nuclear issue, and Ning Fukui, ambassador on Korean Peninsula affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, had visited Russia and consulted with the Russian side on issues related to the third round of talks.

Ning was consulting with the US side now in the United States and was scheduled to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) later, Liu said.

He added that Cui Tiankai, director-general of the ministry's Asian Affairs Department, had also left here on Sunday for Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) to consult with relevant officials on the next round of talks.

Liu said these consultations, as preparation for the next round of talks, were still in progress. China hopes that the related parties could continue to take a constructive attitude, show flexibility to the full, seek and expand common ground, narrow differences, and work actively to find solutions to the nuclear issue.

China hopes that the third round of talks, on the basis of the previous two rounds of talks, would make progress towards the direction of resolving the nuclear issue through dialogue, Liu said.

At the first working group meeting of the six-party talks in Beijing last month, negotiators from China, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK, Russia and Japan agreed that the third round of six-party talks would be held in Beijing before the end of June after one more working-level discussion.