BEIJING, August 30 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - Chinese Chairman Hu Jintao will meet with U.S. President George Bush in the United States to discuss the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
He Yafei, the director of the North America and Oceania Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the Chinese leader would tour the U.S., Canada, and Mexico on September 5-17.
During his stay in New York, Jintao will also attend the UN summit marking the 60th anniversary of the organization.
"North Korea is ready to resume the six-party negotiations thanks to the efforts of those involved," Yafei said.
He also said Jintao and Bush would discuss the nuclear issue. Yafei refused to say when the nuclear talks would resume but said that China and the other parties were discussing the timeframe.
Yafei said negotiating parties had held bilateral talks despite the suspension of the fourth round and that China was doing its best to restart the talks.
The main cause of contention during the first stage of the talks was the scale of nuclear disarmament and North Korea's right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, he said.
"China is hopeful that all the sides will stick to a productive position, seek to foster mutual trust, and look for a solution to the problems to ensure that the talks bear fruit," he said, adding that the nuclear issue was very complicated and could not be resolved in a matter of several rounds of talks.
The fourth round of the six-party negotiations on the Korean nuclear issue that began on July 26 was suspended on August 7. The talks involve North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan. On Monday, North Korea agreed to resume the nuclear talks on September 12.
