The third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue started in Beijing Wednesday afternoon.

At the opening ceremony of the new round of talks, Chinese delegation head and Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that two major topics, how to realize a nuclear weapon-free Korean Peninsula and how to make the first step toward the nuclear weapon-free goal, will be discussed.

Wang had separate bilateral consultations Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with the delegation heads of Russia, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States and Japan, sources with the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Wang and the other delegation heads exchanged views on securing smooth talks, consolidating the achievements already made, broadening common grounds, and working for reaching a principled consensus on substantial issues such as the building of a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula and starting the denuclearization process.

All the five parties spoke highly of China's active efforts to make preparations for the third round of six-party talks and to promote the process of the talks. They said they would show flexibility and try to make progress in the six-party talks.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)