Chief delegates of concerned parties who were in Beijing to attend the fourth round of six-party talks expressed the appreciation to China's strenuous efforts to promote the talks here Sunday.

China has made much effort in pushing forward the talks and played a "very good" role in the process, said Song Min-soon, chief negotiator of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

He spoke highly of China's effort in this round of talks, noting that China has played a "very good" role no matter in drafting a balanced joint document reflecting the views of all sides or in pushing the meeting forward smoothly.

He expressed the hope that China will continue playing this role in later talks.

Russian delegation head Alexander Alexeyev, described the current talks as "fruitful," since all sides had reached unprecedented understanding and consensus on many issues, thanks to the excellent organizational work and diplomatic efforts by China and the efforts by other parties.

Christopher Hill, US chief negotiator to the talks, also expressed his appreciation to China's efforts.

"I think the Chinese draft is an excellent basis for reaching an agreement," said Hill, adding that the Chinese have done what they could do to help achieve the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Japanese delegation head Sasae Kenichiro told reporters Sunday noon that Japan is very grateful for the important role played by China.

"China has made unremitting efforts to realize the expectation of the region, and the world over, and we do appreciate that", Sasae said.

The fourth round of the six-party talks, which involves China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, failed to come up with a highly-anticipated joint document before a three-week recess was announced.

China, the host of the six-nation talks, issued a chairman's statement Sunday, saying the next phase of the talks will resume in the week beginning Aug. 29 this year, with the exact date to be set through consultations among the six parties.

According to Qin Gang, head of the Chinese delegation, China has altogether held 42 bilateral consultations with other five parties, 14 with the Unite States, 11 with the DPRK, seven with Japan, six with Russia, four with ROK respectively.

Source: Xinhua