China urged Wednesday the concerned sides strive to seek common ground, create a sound atmosphere for later dialogues and reserve the six-party talks progress on the Korean nuclear issue.

When meeting six delegations to the Beijing six-party talks Wednesday evening at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said that the convocation of the talks itself is a fruit resulted from concerted efforts made by various parties.

He said, peace is one of the most valuable assets and safeguarding peace through dialogues is the most dependable.

The Chinese foreign minister said that the delegations are here for the common aspiration of the world, which marks another important progress in peacefully solving the Korean nuclear issue and should be cherished by various parties.

He said that all parties concerned hope a peaceful, stable and nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

Surrounding negotiation tables, the six delegations exchanged views on the nuclear issue on the peninsula and peace and security in Northeast Asia, which helped improve understanding among those nations and showed their political will in peacefully solving the issue through talks.

"It's unwise to expect the nuclear issue at a single strike," said he, hoping the concerned parties, with full candor and mutual respect, could seek common grounds while conserving differences and making progress step by step.

"We should try to expand common grounds and create good atmosphere for future talks," he said, indicating that he hopes the mechanism of six-party talks continue.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2003)