China said on Tuesday the six-party nuclear talks had achieved "significant progress", adding that China is preparing with other concerned parties for a chief negotiators' meeting.

Hailing the recent progress in the Korean Peninsula denuclearization, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said that China appreciates the constructive efforts of relevant parties and believes they will make fresh headway in the six-party talks.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submitted its long-awaited nuclear declaration to China, host of the six-party talks, on June 26 and demolished the cooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor on June 27.

The United States accordingly announced on June 26 that it might remove the DPRK from its list of state sponsors of terrorism within 45 days if the country meets all its obligations under the six-party talks.

The six-party talks offer new opportunities, Liu said, calling on all concerned parties to take the chance of the chief negotiators' meeting to discuss issues of common concern and implement the remaining work in the second phase in a comprehensive and balanced manner, so to push the talks into a newstage.

China is ready to play a constructive role to this end, he added.

The six-party talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia, were launched in 2003. So far, the six parties have held six rounds of talks in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2008)