Whether to hold a closing ceremony for the third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue has no connection with the talks' progress, said Zhang Qiyue, member of the Chinese delegation to the talks, at a press conference in Beijing Friday.

Zhang made the remark in reply to a reporter's question that whether not holding a closing ceremony indicates the talks have achieved little progress.

She said that there would be no closing ceremony when China designed the procedure for the talks.

Since the talks have become mechanized, there is no need to have opening and closing ceremonies for every round of the talks, Zhang explained.

According to Zhang, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also the head of the Chinese delegation, will hold a press conference, which will be televised live, sometime after the talks end.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)