China is proposing a three-phase process for the resumption of stalled six-way talks on North Korea’s nuclear proliferation.

In the three-step framework, the resumption of multilateral talks would follow bilateral contact between the U.S. and North Korea and preliminary meetings between the six participating countries of the nuclear negotiations.

According to diplomatic sources, China's top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei made the proposal in a meeting with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth and South Korean chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac, both of whom visited Beijing late last month.

The sources said that the Chinese proposal did not mention the removal of U.N. sanctions on North Korea, which Pyongyang has demanded as a precondition for its return to the negotiating table.