BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes the upcoming talks between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on normalization of bilateral relations, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

    Calling the talks a "very important" step in the initial actions of implementation of the September 19 statement, Qin Gang said he expected a positive outcome from the talks.

    The US and DPRK officials are expected to hold working group talks from March 5 to 6 in New York, following a landmark agreement in the last round of the six-party talks in which the two sides agreed to start talks on normalizing relations after decades of hostility.

    "We hope relevant parties will make joint efforts for a favorable start towards the goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the permanent peace and stability on the peninsula," Qin said.

    China continues consultations with all the other parties and is working on details of the working group on the denuclearization under the joint document inked last month, Qin said.

    The six parties agreed to hold the sixth round of the six-party talks on March 19.