Lee Hae-chan, prime minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK), arrived in Beijing Tuesday on a three-day official visit to China, with stalled six-party talks on his agenda.  

China and the ROK will have an in-depth exchange of views on the six-party talks and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula during the prime minister's visit, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao earlier.

"Both China and the ROK are participants of the six-party talks, and China values the important role the ROK has been playing in the talks as well as its efforts to solve the nuclear issue," Liu said.

This is Lee's first visit to China since he became prime minister. During the visit, Lee will hold talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and meet with President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo.

China and the ROK witnessed rapid growth in trade in recent years. In 2004, the volume of bilateral trade hit US$90 billion, a year-on-year increase of 42.4 percent. Bilateral trade is expected to exceed US$100 billion this year.

China is ROK's largest trade partner while ROK is China's fourth largest trade partner.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2005)