North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are seen at the border village of Panmunjeom in the Demilitarized Zone on April 27, 2018. (Pool photo)

       BEIJING (Kyodo) -- China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, has expressed support for Seoul's push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, citing South Korea's Embassy in Beijing.

       During his talks with South Korea's National Security Director Suh Hoon in Tianjin on Thursday, Yang said China believes "the end-of-war declaration will contribute to promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," according to Yonhap.

       Their meeting took place after South Korean President Moon Jae In said in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September that he would seek to declare a formal end to the war, naming China as a potential partner along with the two Koreas and the United States.

       The Korean War -- in which U.S.-led U.N. forces fought alongside the South against the North backed by China and the Soviet Union -- ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

       Moon, whose tenure as president ends in May, has emphasized that an end-of-war declaration could help revive the stalled inter-Korean peace talks.

       North Korea, however, said it would reject any proposal by the South unless the United States withdraws its "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang. China is known as North Korea's most influential political ally, while Seoul has formed a security alliance with Washington.

       Yonhap, meanwhile, reported Yang also reaffirmed with Suh that the two countries will seek Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korea as soon as the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is "stabilized."

       Yang is a member of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee.

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