Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Friday that North Korea is ready to return to six-way talks to resolve its nuclear program.

The minister, who is visiting Kazakhstan to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), stressed that conditions were developing for the talks to commence.

The Chinese leadership has been steadfast in calling for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that Pyongyang has said it also supports such policies.

The official added that Beijing was in the process of persuading the United States to soften its stance against North Korea so the reclusive country could return to the negotiating table.

The SCO is an organization made up of China, Russia and four former Soviet countries in Central Asia, with parties discussing cooperation and security issues.