US top diplomat in China amid North Korea, territorial tensions
China will act on North Korea, says John Kerry
(about 11 hours later)
US Secretary of State John Kerry has met China's President Xi Jinping, in a visit expected to focus on North Korea and regional territorial tensions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says Chinese officials have reassured him that they will work to rein in North Korea's nuclear programme.
Mr Kerry told reporters that his meeting with Mr Xi in the capital, Beijing, "was a very constructive one".
After meeting President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Mr Kerry said he was satisfied that China "would not allow a nuclear programme over the long run" in North Korea.
His regional tour began in South Korea on Thursday, where he touched on China's critical role in curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
China is North Korea's main ally and trading partner.
He is also to visit Jakarta as part of Washington's so-called "pivot to Asia".
Mr Kerry will visit Jakarta next as part of a "pivot to Asia" tour.
The meeting with Mr Xi was "very positive and I am glad we had an opportunity to dig into the detail of some of the North Korea challenges", Mr Kerry told reporters after the meeting at the Great Hall of the People.
He described the meeting in Beijing as "very constructive".
In South Korea, Mr Kerry had said the US was relying on China to exert pressure on Pyongyang to return to stalled six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear programme.
He said China "will not allow instability and war to break out in the region", and said Beijing was prepared to take "additional steps" if Pyongyang did not comply.
"China has a unique and critical role that it can play,'' he said. "No country has a greater potential to influence North Korea's behaviour than China, given their extensive trading relationship with the North.''
Mr Kerry refused to be drawn on what specific measures China would take.
In response, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China "has played its due role" in trying to help find a solution.
China has already been steadily turning up the pressure on North Korea to forgo nuclear weapons.
"We have, through different channels, worked on the North Korea nuclear problem through the six-party nuclear talks, and have maintained close communication with the parties," Hua Chunying said during a regular press briefing on Friday.
In September last year, China banned the export of several weapons technologies to North Korea that could have been used to develop nuclear weapons.
'Key interests'
China has also supported several UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea over the nuclear issue.
Mr Kerry also met Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who called for US-China ties to "reflect the principle of non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual respect and win-win co-operation".
Mr Kerry said earlier on his Asian tour that the US wanted Pyongyang to return to stalled six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear programme.
Mr Kerry did not comment on China's disputes with neighbours in the region. But he said that the two sides were "succeeding in finding what we call big-ticket items to be constructive on", including Syria, Afghanistan and Iran.
'National Interests'
The top US diplomat was expected to urge his Chinese counterparts to ease simmering tensions with Japan and to scale back China's increasingly assertive claims to territory in the South and East China seas, says the BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing.
Mr Kerry said his talks Beijing also tackled China's territorial disputes with its South-East Asian neighbours.
Before leaving Washington for his regional tour, Mr Kerry warned that the US "neither recognises nor accepts" China's newly-declared air defence identification zone over the East China Sea - which includes islands controlled by Japan.
He said he warned China against any moves to declare an air-defence zone in the South China Sea.
Chinese state-run media, however, said on Friday that the US must "press Japan to call off its provocative moves" or risk future regional conflict.
Last year Beijing set up an air-defence zone in the East China Sea, around islands that it disputes with Japan.
"The United States has to know that, while Beijing has always been trying to address territorial brawls with some neighbouring countries through peaceful means, it will not hesitate to take steps to secure its key national security interests according to China's sovereign rights,'' Xinhua news agency said in an editorial.
The US said at the time that it "neither recognises nor accepts" the zone.
However, the BBC's Michael Bristow says China does not seem to be listening to Mr Kerry's advice on its territorial disputes.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country was determined to protect its national interests.
Mr Kerry's regional tour began in South Korea on Thursday, and he is due to visit Jakarta next.
