Tokyo - China has expressed a willingness to mediate in talks between North Korea and the United States on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a Japanese media report said Friday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the Nikkei financial newspaper, "Maintaining the process is in the interest of each participant" of the six-party talks, which include Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, China and the United States.

Many analysts see a breakthrough in relations between the United States and North Korea as necessary for the resumption of the six-nation talks.

Pyongyang recently announced that it would boycott international negotiations on ending its nuclear weapons programme and restore nuclear facilities after the UN Security Council condemned the North's April 5 rocket launch.

Pyongyang said the launch was for a communications satellite, but the United States, Japan and South Korea said it was a test for a long-range missile. (dpa)