South Korea's presidential office on Wednesday welcomed the outcome of a meeting between leaders of North Korea and China, expressing hope that China will continue to play a positive role in "safe" and "complete" denuclearization of the North.

"The latest North Korea-China summit is believed to have moved the denuclearization process a step further," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a daily press briefing.

"In addition, we expect China to play a positive role in safely completing the denuclearization process," he added.
 

The remarks came shortly after the North's official news outlets said Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed their joint efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

"Xi Jinping gave high appreciation and extended heartfelt congratulations to Chairman Kim Jong-un for having steered the DPRK-US summit meeting and talks successfully and put the situation of the Korean Peninsula on the track of dialogue, negotiation, peace and stability," the Korean Central News Agency reported.

"Voicing full support for the stand and determination of the DPRK side for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he said that China will continue to play its constructive role in the future, too," it added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The Kim-Xi summit was the third of its kind in just about three months. Their latest meeting also followed Kim's historic summit with US President Donald Trump, held in Singapore last week.

China earlier said Kim's two-day trip to Beijing will end Wednesday. (Yonhap)