A senior Chinese official says six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions could resume by the end of November.
Chinese state-run media quote Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei as saying he is not sure what form the talks might take.
The comments come a few days after officials from the United States, Russia and South Korea urged Pyongyang to return to six-party talks by the end of this year. South Korea's deputy foreign minister said new talks must take place, regardless of format.
The two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia have held three rounds of talks in Beijing on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, with little progress made.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.