North Korea's official KCNA news agency has confirmed Kim Jong-il's recent visit to China this week.

In its first confirmation of Kim's secretive trip to Beijing, the news agency said Thursday that Kim and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to try to resolve the nuclear dispute peacefully through talks with South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia.

The reports said that Pyongyang would take an active part in the six-party talks with patience and flexibility and make contributions to the progress of the talks. The KCNA also said that the North remains unchanged in its stance for a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue with the ultimate aim of denuclearization.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Kim's visit to China was significant, adding that Pyongyang is committed to peacefully resolving its nuclear issue through the six-party discussion framework.

Kong Quan added that China and the North had also agreed to work together to promote bilateral trade and that the Beijing leadership would continue its longstanding policy of providing aid to its impoverished neighbor.