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Beijing, May 5 (ANI): China and North Korea are reportedly looking to give a boost to their bilateral economic ties and end the international blackballing of North Korea during the clandestine visit of North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-il.

Details about the visit are hazy but Kim is said to have toured an industrial zone 30 km from Dalian in Beijing.

China is reported to be keen on resumption of the stalled six-party talks that will bring together North Korea, South Korea, China, US, Japan and Russia.

Kim Yong-hyun, an expert at North Korea’s Dongguk University, was quoted by the Chosun IIbo as saying, “North Korea’s main interest is in economic assistance from China, and China’s top priority is to set a date for North Korea to return to the six-party talks and reaffirm Pyongyang’s willingness to scrap its nuclear weapons.”

“I think Kim’s visit is to discuss ways to cooperate in the near future with China, especially in regard to economic ties between the two countries, the Six-Party Talks and the Cheonan (ship sinking) incident,” The Guardian quoted Yang Moo-jin, a professor at South Korea’s University of North Korean Studies, as saying.

High expectations regarding the recommencement of the Six-party talks could, however, be scotched by the Cheonan incident where the Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship carrying 104 personnel, was sunk off the country’s west coast near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea.

On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered a thorough review of his country’s military readiness, terming the sinking of the warship as not being a “simple accident”.

South Korea has called on China to play a “responsible role” in working out a resolution between the two rivals.

“Before any concrete proof comes out of the investigation, China will surely remain neutral and not take sides,” China Daily quoted Da Wei, a scholar at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations as saying.

Meanwhile, China is not ruling out an economic partnership or future investment with North Korea.

“While economic aid is just an old practice, investment into North Korea will surely help the country acquire more capacity to develop,” said Cheng Xiaohe, a scholar with the Beijing-based Renmin University of China. (ANI)