Leaders of China and the United States have pledged to make joint efforts for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and agreed to co-operate to resolve the nuclear issue there peacefully.

During their meeting in the Alpine resort Evian on Sunday evening following the informal dialogue meeting between leaders of developing and developed countries, President Hu Jintao and US counterpart George W. Bush reaffirmed their stance on a nuclear-weapons free peninsula.

They said they would stay in touch and co-operate for the peaceful resolution of the nuclear programme of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) through dialogue, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

China, the DPRK and the United States held a three-day meeting in Beijing in April. It was the first time the two rivals - the United States and the DPRK -- had faced each other at the negotiating table since the escalation of the nuclear stand-off last October.

The meeting allowed both sides to express their positions clearly but failed to produce major breakthroughs.

China backs the non-nuclearization of the peninsula but has also stressed the security concerns of the DPRK should be addressed.

The meeting in Evian was the first between the US and Chinese leaders since Hu became president in March.

It was the latest in a series of top-level China-US meetings. Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Bush exchanged visits last year, signalling a return to the development of bilateral ties after complications at the beginning of the Bush administration.

"China and the United States have some major differences, but they also share major interests,'' said Qu Xing, professor with the Beijing-based Foreign Affairs College.

"The meeting is the first face-to-face contact between the new leadership of China and the Bush administration, which will surely promote bilateral ties.''

According to the Chinese spokesman, Hu and Bush invited each other to visit their respective countries during their 50-minute talk on Sunday. US Vice President Dick Cheney may also visit China later this year.

On Sunday, Hu urged the United States to honour its commitment to the one-China policy, handle the Taiwan question properly and refrain from sending wrong signals to Taiwan separatist forces.

Bush was quoted by the Chinese spokesman as promising his administration will continue its one-China policy, follow the three US-China joint communiques and oppose "Taiwan independence.''

This policy has not changed and will not change in the future, said Bush.

The promise came days after Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted to Bush's signing of a US Congress bill supporting Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization.

The Taiwan question has long been the most sensitive and important question in Sino-US relations.

Despite rows over the island, China and the United States have been developing a constructive relationship of co-operation in the past couple of years.

Hu told Bush on Sunday that the two countries shoulder major responsibilities in maintaining world peace and stability and promoting common development.

He added they share broad common interests and co-operation in such fields as anti-terrorism, crackdowns on cross-border crime and epidemic prevention.

Bush expressed interest in enhancing co-operation with China in anti-terrorism and trade, according to the spokesman.



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