Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that China hopes Japan and North Korea will resolve the abduction issue through negotiation.

Wen's comments came at a press conference following the conclusion of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

Stressing China sympathized with the abducted Japanese nationals, Wen said he hoped Japan and North Korea would smoothly resolve the issue through communication and negotiation.

North Korea and Japan held talks on normalizing their diplomatic relations in Hanoi last Thursday. But nothing came out of the talks due to their disagreement on the abduction issue.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2007)