The Chinese government supports and encourages the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to hold direct bilateral talks.

"We hope they, as the major responsible parties, can resolve the relevant issues through negotiations with flexible and pragmatic attitudes", Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

Responding to a question on the stalled six-party talks, Qin said China would continue attempts to maintain a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and the stability of the peninsula as well as that of the Northeast Asia.

"China will continue to make constructive efforts and we hope the concerned parties can generate constructive efforts too", Qin said.

The six-party talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, stalled after the first phase of the fifth round of talks ended last November.

Source: Xinhua