Special Report: The sixth round of six-party talks     

    BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Heads of the delegations attending the new round of six-party talks will meet on Thursday, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry at a regular press conference here on Tuesday.

    "We expect the meeting to have a positive effect to facilitate the six-party talks moving to a new phase," said ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

    The meeting would be targeted at realizing the second phase of the action plan in a comprehensive and balanced way, and other issues of common concern would also be touched upon, he said.

    On the sideline of the meeting, the working groups on denuclearization at the Korean peninsular, as well as the economic and energy resources cooperation, will hold meetings too.

    After the DPRK's demolishing of a cooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and its nuclear declaration to China recently, the United States announced it would remove the DPRK from its list of state sponsors of terrorism within 45 days if the country met all its obligations under the six-party talks. All these moves paved the way for the new round of talks.

    The duration of the heads of delegations meeting, though tentatively scheduled for three days, will be set in accordance with the progress of the talks, according to Qin.

    On whether the meeting will produce a joint statement or any kind of agreement, Qin said it depends on the willingness of all parties concerned and the progress of the talks.

    Qin urged all parties concerned to make joint efforts to promote the six-party talks process for new achievements.

    "All the six parties are making active efforts to promote the process toward the goal of denuclearization and peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the northeast Asia at large," Qin noted.

    On when the six parties will hold a foreign ministers' meeting, Qin said it still needs further contacts and consultation, adding China, as one of the six parties and host of the six-party talks, adopts a positive and open attitude to the holding of such a meeting and will continue to keep contacts and consultation with the other five parties.

    The six-party talks, involving China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea(ROK), Japan and Russia, have focused on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsular. So far, six rounds of talks have been held in Beijing since 2003.