The U.S. State Department has called on China to join efforts to dissuade North Korea from engaging in provocation.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, said in a press briefing on Wednesday that the U.S. is ready to engage along with China, South Korea and Japan to advance dialogue and serious diplomacy regarding the North's nuclear and missile threats.

The spokesperson said that the U.S. must limit the North's ability to advance its unlawful ballistic missiles program and its weapons of mass destruction program, reaffirming the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

He noted that in Monday’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Joe Biden raised concerns about the North's provocative behavior, noting that the entire international community, including China, has a vested interest in encouraging Pyongyang to act responsibly.

Patel added that Biden told Xi that China has a responsibility to make it clear to the North that Pyongyang should not engage in unlawful and destabilizing nuclear or ballistic missile tests.

The remarks come after Biden held his first face-to-face meeting with Xi as president on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia earlier in the week.