TOKYO - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met Thursday in Pyongyang with a top Chinese diplomat, North Korea's official state media said, as the two countries boosted their "friendly and cooperative relations."

According to the North Korean account, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo conveyed a greeting from President Hu Jintao and presented Kim with a gift, reinforcing the cozy Pyongyang-Beijing relationship that has drawn recent criticism from the United States and other nations involved in the six party talks about North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Since North Korea's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island last month, top officials in Washington have described China as an enabler for Pyongyang's aggressions-- providing aid but little influence, calling for peace on the Korean peninsula but rarely condemning the North's behavior.

China's Xinhua news agency described the Kim-Dai meeting as "candid," saying the two "reached consensus on bilateral relations."

A team of U.S. diplomats, led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, plans to visit China next week, in part to convey a message of concern to Beijing. "It is critically important that China continue to play a strong role making clear to North Korea that there are consequences for its actions," Steinberg said on Tuesday.

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