A senior US Treasury official arrived in China for talks with North Korea on financial sanctions that Pyongyang argues block a deal on halting its nuclear program, a US embassy spokesperson said.

Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, will hold talks with North Korean officials in Beijing Tuesday, the spokesperson said.

Glaser said on arrival that he hoped to have "productive meetings" while in the Chinese capital, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Daniel Glaser, pictured in 2006, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, arrived in China for talks with North Korea on financial sanctions that Pyongyang argues block a deal on halting its nuclear program, a US embassy spokesperson said.[AFP/file]

Talks last occurred between the two parties in December in Beijing, but ended in diplomatic deadlock.

Analysts say a resolution of the financial sanctions is critical to ending the broader problem of Pyongyang's nuclear drive, under discussion in parallel talks involving the United States, Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas.

After long negotiations, North Korea agreed in a September 2005 pact to dismantle its nuclear program in return for diplomatic recognition and food and energy aid.

The pact was never implemented because of Pyongyang's protests over financial sanctions Washington imposed on Macau-based Banco Delta Asia the same month.

The United States claimed the bank served as key conduit for North Korean counterfeiting and money laundering. Pyongyang has denied Washington's allegations.

Talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program attained new urgency in October when it tested an atomic bomb for the first time.