Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised in a joint statement "cooperation in six-party talks" on North Korea's disarmament that are being held in Beijing.

The two leaders agreed to "jointly promote efforts for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula through dialogue and negotiations," it said.

The statement also said China shared Japan's concerns over the plight of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang, a domestically sensitive issue here.

The two leaders met at a time of hectic diplomacy over North Korea, which has demanded it receive funds from a blacklisted bank account before shutting down a nuclear reactor.

New Mexico state governor Bill Richardson, who visited Pyongyang, said Wednesday that North Korea had agreed to act within a day of seeing the money that has been unfrozen at Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA).

"The BDA issue has been resolved at the political level. Now the countries concerned must resolve the BDA issue," Wen told Abe in their meeting, as quoted by the Japanese leader's aide Hiroshige Seko.

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