Difficulties exist for the holding of the fourth round of the six-party talks before the end of September, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Thursday.

He said at a regular press conference that all parties should make efforts to hold the new round of six-party talks before the end of September.

"Even if the new round could not be held before the end of September, it should be held at an early date," he said.

The six-party talks, aiming at resolving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, involve China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia. The six parties agreed to meet again before the end of September during the third-round meeting this June.

China has carried out mediation actively and done much constructive work, leading to much progress, said Kong. However, whether the talks could be held as scheduled is mainly up to the DPRK and the United States instead of China, Kong added.

The six-party talks have turned out to be a mechanism for peaceful resolution of the Korean nuclear issue. China hopes the parties concerned continue to follow the process so as to achieve the goal of peaceful solution and ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Kong said.

China has not given up its efforts to keep in close touch with the other parties for the sake of earlier convening of the fourth-round talks although the working-level talks have not been held since June when the third-round talks were held.

Source: Xinhua