China calls on US, N. Korea to implement Singapore deal

China's top legislator voiced hope that North Korea and the United States will implement their nuclear summit agreement as he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Chinese state media said Monday.

Li Zhanshu, sent by President Xi Jinping to attend North Korea's 70th anniversary parade on Sunday, said China was committed to the goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the Xinhua news agency said.

But North Korea refrained from displaying its intercontinental missiles during Sunday's parade, a conspicuous absence that Trump hailed as "a big and very positive statement".

Politburo Standing Committee member Li Zhanshu (L) met North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (R) during a military parade and mass rally to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea

For his part, Kim said North Korea adheres to the consensus reached at the summit and "has taken measures in this regard while the US side should take corresponding actions to jointly promote the political settlement of the Korean peninsula issue," according to Xinhua.

Relations between Pyongyang and Beijing have gone through a rough patch in recent years, with China backing United Nations sanctions to punish its Cold War-era ally for its nuclear activities.

But ties have recently improved as Kim met Xi in China three times this year.

- AFP