Six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions may resume on Sept. 2, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said Thursday.
"We are now considering resuming the talks on Sept. 2 in consultation with the Japanese side," Wu, who is also China's chief delegate to the talks, was quoted as saying in a meeting with Social Democratic Party chief Mizuho Fukushima.
"Our staff are now talking with the U.S. side."
However, Russia's Interfax new agency, quoting North Korean diplomats in Beijing, reported the same day that the Sept. 2 resumption of the talks is unlikely.
The six nations -- China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia and the United States -- failed to hammer out a joint document aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms program during the last round of talks, which began in late July in Beijing.
The parties involved decided to break for a three-week recess on Aug. 7.
Referring to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's statement on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, Wu said China was weighing it seriously.
On Aug. 15, the prime minister expressed an apology to victims of Japan's past aggression. He also voiced willingness to join hands with Asian neighbors to help maintain peace in the region.