Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing Saturday that all parties believed the nuclear freeze and corresponding measures were the first phase towards eventual nuclear abandonment.

All parties have reached consensus on the first phase, Wang told a press conference.

All expressed welcome to the commitment made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on measures taken in the first phase and made positive response "at varying degrees", he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)