Li made the remarks at a meeting with the chief negotiators of the six parties, including China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia.

    Li stressed the fresh consensus include that all parties reiterated the implementation of the September joint statement, peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and the adherence to the common target of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

    Li said he hoped involved parties to give full play of their political wisdom and innovation spirit, accumulate trust and expand consensus in a gradual manner.

    Li noted that it was really not easy to resume the six-party talks after a stalemate of more than one year, adding that the urgent priorities for all the parties at this moment were to roll out plans for carrying out the joint statement and take down-to-earth actions to fulfill their commitments made in the statement.

    Li said the statement was a significant achievement of the previous rounds of six-party talks, calling it "taking the concerns of all parties and deserving to be cherished".

    Li pointed out that it was in the interest of all parties and conformed to the aspirations of the world to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue through negotiations within the framework of the six-party talks.

    The heads of all delegations appreciated host China's key role in promoting the multilateral talks and acknowledged the important significance of the resumption of the six-party talks and the arduous tasks each delegation shouldered.

    They agreed to make joint efforts, overcome difficulties and further the talks for substantive progress.

Related: Six-party talks: DPRK, U.S. meet on nuke, financial issues

    BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chief nuclear negotiators from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States on Tuesday held their first one-on-one discussions at the six-party talks underway in Beijing.

    "The chief DPRK negotiator Kim Kye-gwan and the chief U.S. negotiator Christoper Hill held their bilateral meeting Tuesday afternoon in Diaoyuatai State Guesthouse," the Chinese press center said, without releasing more details.

    The meeting between Kim and Hill coincided with a separate meeting between the two countries' finance delegation in Beijing.

    President of the DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank O Kwang Chol held three-hour talks with Daniel Glaser, U.S. Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, at the U.S. Embassy Tuesday afternoon.

    "The financial talks went on in a friendly manner, but did not produce new proposals," an official from the Republic of Korea (ROK) delegation to the nuke talks, said on condition of anonymity late Tuesday.

    Hopeful about the financial talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Tuesday afternoon that "the U.S.-DPRK sanction issue would be properly resolved through the bilateral meeting, and positive achievements might come out."

    Financial sanction imposed on the DPRK was one of key stumbling blocks that had stalled the six-party talks for the past thirteen months.

    The fresh talks, which resumed on Monday after a 13-month suspension, entered the second day of negotiations on Tuesday, focusing on the implementation of the joint statement in September2005.

    Under the joint statement, the DPRK agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees.

    Formally known as the second phase of the fifth round since 2003, the talks involved China, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK, Japan and Russia.

    Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo said on Tuesday evening that the negotiations are "deepening" despite twists and turns in the talks.

    Dai underlined complexity of the nuclear issue, saying "it is natural that some fluctuations and difficulties come up" in the nuclear disarmament talks.

    "It is a long day, we met with all other five parties," chief U.S. negotiator Hill told reporters Wednesday night at the hotel. "We worked well with China today... but we don't have breakthroughs to report."

    Earlier Tuesday, six chief negotiators gathered for the second time and a string of one-on-one meeting was held in the afternoon.

    China has held seven bilateral sessions with the five other parties in the multilateral talks since the talks resumed Monday and is acting as a mediator to help narrow those differences, spokesman Qin Gang said, confirming the talks will be "opened-end."

    The spokesman urged delegates to the talks to show more patience, joking that "envoys should run a marathon to build their stamina."

    "The time and effort we spend are not in vain, and the expectations of the international community have not been disappointed," the spokesman said.

    Hailing the financial talks "an opportunity for us to have initial exchange of views," Glaser said late Tuesday that he and his DPRK counterpart will continue financial talks in the DPRK embassy Wednesday.

    "Tomorrow will be a bilateral day," Hill said, adding "we really work on getting something down at the end of this week."

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DPRK, U.S. to continue bilateral meeting on financial issue Wednesday

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China says negotiations "deepening" in six-party talks

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U.S. negotiator: "no breakthrough" in 2nd day of nuclear talks

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Chinese negotiator urges six parties to decide action

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First-day of resumed Korean nuke talks "candid", "pragmatic"

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Six-party nuclear talks resume amid cautious expectations

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