Beijing - North Korea's top leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday told China that six-nation negotiations on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programme had "reached a lot of important agreements," Chinese state media said.

"Although it has twists and turns, it has reached a lot of important agreements and consensus," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Kim as saying of the six-nation process during a meeting with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang.

Kim said China had played a "very important role" as the host country for the six-party talks, which involve North Korea, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

He said he hoped North Korea and China would continue their "good cooperation" in the nuclear negotations, the agency reported from Pyongyang.

Xi told Kim that China wanted to "strengthen the exchange of opinions and cooperation" with North Korea to promote six-nation process.

He was quoted as saying China would "continue playing a constructive role in the six-party talks".

After Kim's last reported talks on the nuclear issue with senior Chinese officials in January, China quoted him as saying North Korea would honour its commitments to dismantle its nuclear programme.

Envoys from the six nations held several bilateral meetings in late May in an effort to kickstart the negotiations.

North Korea last year agreed to disable and later dismantle its nuclear weapons programme in return for energy aid and other concessions from the other five nations.

But a key sticking point is North Korea's failure to meet the agreed deadline to disclose full details of its nuclear programmes by the end of last year.

Xi, 55, arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a three-day visit during which the Chinese foreign ministry said he would "exchange views on bilateral relations, and international and regional issues of mutual concern, including the nuclear issue."

On Tuesday, he met Kim Yong Nam, the official number two in the ruling Korean Workers' Party.

Xi is seen as the likely successor of Hu Jintao as Communist Party leader in 2012 and state president in 2013.

After his visit to North Korea, he is scheduled to travel to Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen until June 25. (dpa)