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China's foreign minister has said he did not know of any North Korean plans to conduct a second nuclear weapons test but reiterated Beijing's opposition to any such move.
“Our position is very clear,” Li Zhaoxing told reporters.
“We are very firm about the safeguarding of the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and we hope that all countries will act according to the spirit of the UN charter.”
Li, visiting Cebu for a meeting of Southeast Asian ministers with regional partner nations, did not elaborate.
China, North Korea's main economic lifeline, reacted angrily to the first test on October 9 and backed a UN Security Council resolution that imposed sanctions on Pyongyang.
There have been recent reports that North Korea is preparing for a possible second nuclear test at the same site. But most analysts expect it to await the outcome of six-nation negotiations on its nuclear programme, and of separate talks on lifting US financial sanctions.
The six-nation talks resumed in Beijing last month after a 13-month break but ended without apparent progress or a date to meet again.
However Li said the resumption was significant in itself.
He said all sides “re-emphasised that they would stick to the consensus reached on September 19 2005, including that all sides should have denuclearisation and the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula as a goal, and that all sides should solve problems through the six-party talks framework.”
At a six-party session in September 2005, the North agreed in principle to scrap its nuclear programmes in exchange for economic and energy benefits and security guarantees.
But it boycotted the forum two months later in protest at the US financial sanctions imposed for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting.
