China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remark at a regular briefing on Monday, announcing that the eighth South Korea-China High-Level Strategic Dialogue will be held in Beijing Tuesday.
Alongside North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship, top officials from both sides will also attempt to bridge widening gaps over divergent security interests, which pundits believe are the "weakest link" of Sino-US relations that could lead to conflict if not properly managed.
North Korean threats, trade tensions and global terrorism are expected to be among the issues discussed at the inaugural U.S. President Donald Trump has been counting on China to use its economic leverage over Kim Jong Un's totalitarian government.
"Secretary Tillerson has said that a key element of any success we would have in de-nuclearizing the peninsula would be the cooperation of China", he said. It was also unclear how Trump's comment would be interpreted by the Chinese delegation during the day-long dialogue on Wednesday.
Pressure is being applied by countries that are refusing to allow North Korean ships in their ports, curtailing of visa regimes, restricting flights by the national airline of North Korea and squeezing the country's diplomatic presence, Thornton said.
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea will also figure in the talks, with the United States wanting a freeze on all building activity in the area.
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While the meeting was likely to touch on a range of bilateral and worldwide issues, including the South China Sea disputes and cross-strait relations, the focus would no doubt be North Korea, Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, said.
Geng said China remains committed to banishing nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula and working with the USA and others on restarting talks over the issue.
The dialogue was established under a broader framework that arose in April during President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two sides will exchange views on China-US relations and other issues of common concern, Lu said.
Ms Thornton said: "We want to have a very constructive and results-oriented relationship with China".
David Helvey, a Defence Department official for Asian and Pacific security affairs, said the State Department and the Defence Department were in full agreement on that issue.
They will also talk about tensions in the South China Sea.
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