Democratic People's Republic of Korea's leader Kim Jong Il met with Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, in Pyongyang Thursday morning, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Thursday.

Tang, who arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, conveyed Hu's message to Kim during the meeting, Liu said, without revealing the content of the message. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations and the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, Liu said.

"The meeting was of great significance and was extremely important for bilateral ties and the current situation on the peninsula," Liu told reporters.

Prior to his arrival in the DPRK, Tang also visited the United States and Russia, meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tang, who left Beijing on October 11, was accompanied by Dai Bingguo, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Wu Dawei, vice minister of foreign affairs.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the DPRK conducted an underground nuclear test on Oct. 9.

The United Nations Security Council on October 14 unanimously adopted a resolution imposing sanctions against the DPRK for its nuclear test. Liu said the resolution was a "balanced" one and all parties should enforce it in a "balanced way" without expanding sanctions at will.

"The resolution should be carried out in a practical and careful manner to send a message to DPRK that the nuclear test is a wrongful action which is opposed by the international community and that the DPRK should return to the six-party talks as soon as possible," said Liu.

He added that the important task at hand was to promote the early resumption of the six-party talks.

Liu noted that as a member state of the UN and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will take necessary measures and adopt a suitable mechanism to strictly carry out the commitments in the resolution. He added that China would not do anything that contravened the resolution.

Responding to reports that claimed the six-party talks process is likely to end following the nuclear test, Liu said China was still "full of hope" that the talks could be resumed.

"As all parties consider the six-party talks to be an effective way to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and are willing to return to the talks under the right conditions, the six-party talks have not ended," said Liu, adding that China has been making unremitting efforts for their resumption.

Liu called on all related parties to avoid steps that would further worsen the chances of resuming the talks.

Responding to reports that claimed China would offer food and energy aid to the DPRK, Liu said China had offered aid to the DPRK for many years to improve the lives of the DPRK people and help the country overcome difficulties in its economy.

"We think this is the correct policy, which helps improve the humanitarian situation in DPRK," said Liu.

He also denied the connection between illegal immigration from DPRK to China and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, saying China and the DPRK have taken joint measures to prevent illegal immigration.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in Beijing this morning to discuss the Korean Peninsular situation with Chinese leaders.

Liu said China hoped to have in-depth discussions with Rice on how to resolve the current situation in the Korean Peninsula and promote the realization of a nuclear-free Peninsula through dialogues and negotiations.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)