China welcomes the upcoming visit by a U.S. envoy to North Korea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said earlier in the day that Ambassador Stephen Bosworth would visit the communist state on December 8 "to engage in direct talks with the North Koreans."

"We support and welcome U.S.-North Korean dialogue in the hope that it will facilitate an early resumption of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear problem, and help strengthen peace and stability in the region," Qin Gang said.

He said the actual date for the resumption of talks would be established through consultations between all parties concerned.

The six-party negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program, which involve Russia, the United States, China, Japan and the two Koreas, stalled late last year when Pyongyang missed a deadline to hand over nuclear data as part of a deal under which the North was promised economic aid and diplomatic incentives.

"The door is open to resolving these issues peacefully, for North Korea to see over time the reduction of sanctions and its increasing integration into the international community," Obama said. "But it will only happen if North Korea is taking serious steps around the nuclear issue."

BEIJING, November 19 (RIA Novosti)