Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao have agreed to persuade North Korea to resume the six-party talks as early as possible.

In talks with Wen in Beijing Tuesday, Lee thanked the Chinese government for their efforts to resolve the North's nuclear issue and asked for further assistance to restart the talks.

Wen commended South Korea for its efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, and said Beijing and Seoul should work together to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully.

The two sides also agreed to move up the date of achieving 100 billion dollars in bilateral trade from 2008 and substantially boost economic cooperation.

On Wednesday, Lee will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress.