China put a brave face on six-way talks aimed at solving the North Korean nuclear crisis on Saturday but said much work remained to be done.
North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia agreed to more working-level discussions and a third round of full-fledged six-party talks by the end of June, but little else when their three days of second-tier discussions in Beijing ended on Friday.
"There is still a long way to go to settle the Korean nuclear issue," Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo as telling delegates on Saturday.
"But if all sides, with full sincerity, enough patience and confidence, try to enhance trust and settle suspicion, they can expand consensus and push forward the six-party talks."
North Korea, in its first reaction to the talks, blamed the United States for the lack of progress but said Pyongyang would continue to negotiate.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry said a majority at the talks had supported Pyongyang's "reward for freeze" proposal to resolve the stand-off.
"The US side made an absurd assertion about the enriched uranium programme, its own fabrication," a North Korean ministry spokesman told the official KCNA news agency on Saturday.
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