Paek Nam Sun, minister of foreign affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), left Beijing Tuesday at the end of his eight-day visit to China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with Paek during his stay in Beijing.

As guest of his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing, Paek held talks with Li on bilateral ties, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and other issues of common concern.

Paek's China tour came at a time when the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue remained stalled since the last round of meetings were held in Beijing in November last year.

The last round of talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, ended up with a Chairman's Statement, in which the parties agreed to resume talks as soon as possible.

Since then Washington imposed financial sanctions on Pyongyang for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. The DPRK is refusing to rejoin the talks until the sanctions are lifted, which the U.S. has refused to do.

Paek also spent three days in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, a boom area in south China, which DPRK leader Kim Jong Il visited in January.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said that Paek's visit to Guangdong will enhance mutual understanding and economic development.

At a regular press conference Tuesday afternoon, Liu said that Paek's visit was "successful", since the two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern, such as the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and the six-party talks, and deepened mutual understanding.

China hopes that all relevant parties can create conditions for the resumption of the talks with a flexible and pragmatic attitude, and help the talks achieve progress, the spokesman said.

Source: Xinhua