China's top nuclear envoy will meet delegates to the six-nation North Korea talks on the sidelines of a privately sponsored security conference in Tokyo next week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will visit Japan during the April 10-11 conference but has no plans to attend the meeting, ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

Wu "will have contact with other heads of the delegations to exchange views with them about the six-party talks," Liu said at a regular briefing.

Officials from the Foreign Ministry's Asia Affairs department will represent Beijing at the security conference, Liu said.

"This meeting will be a good opportunity for heads of the delegations to the six-party talks to exchange their views ... to ensure an early resumption of the six-party talks through negotiations," Liu said.

The meeting comes amid efforts to restart the nuclear negotiations which have been stalled since November by a dispute over restrictions the United States imposed on a Macau-based bank and North Korean companies for alleged illegal financial activities.
North Korea has denied the allegations and vows not to return to the talks until the restrictions are lifted. The US has refused to lift the penalties, saying they are separate from the nuclear talks.

The event is sponsored by the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, the US Embassy in Japan has said.

Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top US negotiator on North Korea's nuclear program, will represent Washington.