North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with senior Chinese Communist Party official Wang Jiarui in Pyongyang on Monday and repeated his country's "persistent stance" to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, China's Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday in a dispatch from Pyongyang.

"The sincerity of relevant parties to resume the six-party talks is very important," Kim was quoted as telling Wang, who returned to Beijing on Tuesday from a four-day trip meant to help jumpstart the stalled denuclearization talks.

To that end, North Korea is willing to make efforts with China to further strengthen communication and coordination, Kim said.

Wang, head of the party's International Department, conveyed a "verbal personal message" from Chinese President Hu Jintao, according to a short dispatch by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency early Tuesday.

KCNA did not report the contents of Hu's verbal message, but according to Xinhua, a letter delivered to Kim from Hu included a call for the two countries to make "joint efforts" to "maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

In the letter, Hu also extended an invitation for Kim to visit China, Xinhua said.

Kim expressed gratitude for the message, and asked Wang, head of the Communist Party's International Department, to convey his regards to Hu, according to KCNA.

Kim had "a cordial and friendly conversation" with Wang before hosting a dinner for Wang and his entourage, it added.

Observers believe China, chair of the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, wants to make Wang's visit an impetus to speed up coordination toward the resumption of the dialogue involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

In a related development, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's special envoy, Lynn Pascoe, left Beijing for Pyongyang on Tuesday as part of international efforts to bring Pyongyang back to the six-party negotiations.

Pascoe, U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, made no comments as he left Beijing's international airport. He is scheduled to visit North Korea for four days.

North Korea pulled out of the six-way talks in April last year in protest over the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of a rocket launch it conducted the same month that was widely seen as a long- range missile test. North Korea fueled tension the following month by conducting its second nuclear test.

The moves resulted in increased U.N. sanctions on the country.