China willing to keep working with US on DPRK issue, says senior official

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Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi discussed on Thursday the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue with US President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. and extended Chinese President Xi Jinping's regards to him.

Yang said ties between China and the US have seen progress after the two leaders met at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in April, noting that concrete benefits have been brought to people in both countries.

China is willing to cooperate with the US, maintain high-level talks and continue the steady and healthy development of bilateral relations, Yang noted.

Trump asked Yang to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi, and said the successful summit in Florida between him and Xi has reached a series of understandings. Trump also noted he was pleased to see progress in bilateral cooperation in an array of fields since the meeting.

Trump said he is looking forward to a second meeting with Xi at the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit in July, and will pay a state visit to China this year after having accepted Xi's Jinping's invitation in April.

The two sides also exchanged views on the DPRK issue. Trump said the US looks forward to working with China to rein in Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. Meanwhile, Yang noted that China is willing to maintain contact and coordination with the US in an effort to diffuse tension on the Korean Peninsula and push for a peaceful resolution of the issue.

Also on Thursday, Yang met with US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Fang Fenghui, a member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, also attended the meeting.

A day before, Yang co-chaired the first diplomatic and security dialogue with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis at the US State Department. Fang was also in attendance.

The diplomatic and security dialogue is one of four high-level mechanisms agreed on during the Mar-a-Lago meeting. The other three, which are expected to be held later this year, are talks on economy, law enforcement and cyber security, and social, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

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