Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing Thursday with Joseph R. DeTrani, a US State Department special envoy for the Democratic People's Republic Korea (DPRK), who was on a special visit to China for working consultations.  

During their meeting, the two sides gave a high evaluation of the progress that the second round of six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue made and expressed their willingness to start a working group as early as possible so as to prepare for the third round of talks, which it was agreed will be held before the end of June.

Before their meeting, Ning Fukui, Chinese ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula issue, had held working consultations with DeTrani on launching the working group.

The second round of six-party talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, was held in Beijing from Feb. 25 to 28.

The six sides agreed to form a working group on the Korean nuclear issue.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2004)