The UN Security Council delayed a vote on a resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea so as to allow time for a Chinese delegation to talk to Pyongyang.
The top US envoy on North Korea headed back to Beijing today for an unscheduled visit as efforts intensified to find a diplomatic solution to a crisis sparked by Pyongyang's test-launch of missiles last week.
The leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Il
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who had been in the North Korean capital, returned to Beijing today, apparently for talks with the US special envoy, Christopher Hill.
Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, who began a six-day visit to North Korea yesterday, was apparently still there, and North Korean official Yang Hyong Sop arrived in Beijing for a five-day visit that would include a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Xinhua news agency said.
A US State Department official had said on Sunday that Washington believed it had the backing in the 15-member council for the resolution to pass.
Mr Hill rushed to northeast Asia late last week, visiting Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo in an effort to forge a unified response to Wednesday's multiple missile launches, which have increased tension and exposed fault lines in responses by regional powers.