China welcomes the agreement reached between the Red Cross delegations from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan, and wishes an early start of talks for normalizing relations between DPRK and Japan, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in Beijing on December 23.

Answering a question at today's regular press conference, Zhang said that China awaits progress in the talks for the normalization of DPRK-Japan relations, which will be beneficial for the improvement of their relations.

The delegations from DPRK and Japanese Red Cross societies held talks on humantarian issues in Beijing on December 19-21, and issued a joint press statement Tuesday. Preliminary talks for negotiations on normalizing relations were also held Wednesday. The two sides agreed to meet again for a second round of preliminary talks early next year.