The UN Security Council unanimously approved sanctions against North Korea Saturday after the reclusive communist state claimed Monday to have carried out an underground nuclear weapons test.
The U.S.-drafted resolution aims at restraining North Korea's nuclear and missile potential but contains no economic sanctions or appeals for the use of force.
"China is resolutely opposed to North Korea's nuclear test, supports the goal of the peninsula's denuclearization and favors a peaceful resolution of the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula by means of dialogue and talks and the protection of peace and stability in northeast Asia," Liu Jianchao, an official Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.
He said the UN Security Council's resolution reflected the international community's position on the issue, adding that China was ready to take further efforts on the resumption of the six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear program.
The six-nation talks involving North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States - were launched in 2003, when the North withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but stalled last November over Pyongyang's demands that the U.S. lift sanctions imposed on it for its alleged involvement in counterfeiting and other illegal activities.