Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says his country will work to convince North Korea to return to the six-way nuclear talks.

In an exclusive interview with Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun Thursday, Yang said his country will exert its best efforts to maintain the six-nation nuclear negotiations.

Yang added that China hopes U.S.-North Korea ties can improve, saying Beijing would welcome a direct line of communication between Washington and Pyongyang.

Earlier in the week, North Korea announced that it would abandon the talks, as well as all agreements made under the framework, in response to the U.N. Security Council’s adoption of a presidential statement denouncing Pyongyang for its April fifth rocket launch.

Also during Thursday’s interview, Yang stressed the need for China and Japan to hold bilateral economic discussions to strengthen their alliance in the fight against the global financial crisis.