American top negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill has met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing as momentum increased for a resumption of long-stalled talks.

Hill spoke after meeting Wu Dawei on Friday.

"What will happen soon is the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North Korea) will turn in their declaration. And then soon thereafter, immediately after they do that, we would expect to have a six-party meeting, and I think that would be very soon, very soon after the declaration."

The meeting came after similar working meetings with top nuclear negotiators in Japan and South Korea.

Hill said he and Wu Dawei are scheduled to have another meeting on Monday to further discuss the timing and sequencing of the six-party talks.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier said she expected North Korea to "soon" provide a delayed account of its nuclear weapons activities.

In return for the declaration, Washington may take the North off of its list of extremist nations.