Delegations to the six-party talks on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue held eight bilateral consultations in the Diaoyutai State Guest Hotel Wednesday as the resumed talks entered the second day.

China held consultations with Russia and US separately; North Korea with US and Japan; South Korea with Russia and Japan, and Russia with Japan and US, Chinese delegation spokesman Liu Jianchao said Wednesday.

They discussed important issues involved in the second phase of the fourth-round talks while enunciating their positions and setting forth their suggestions and ideas on how to narrow their differences.

The second-phase talks resumed Tuesday after over five weeks of recess.

The fourth round of talks stalled on August 7 as North Korea insisted on the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy while US wanted full dismantlement of its nuclear program.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2005)