China "appreciates" that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continue to discuss meeting for talks next month in Singapore, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Sunday.

Beijing hopes that the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit will be held as originally scheduled on June 12, Lu told Kyodo News via email.

Over the weekend, Kim reportedly expressed his "fixed will" to meet with Trump, while the U.S. President, after abruptly canceling the summit Thursday, indicated summit talks with the North Korean leader may take place as initially planned.

Trump and Kim have "developed positive attitudes" to promote denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Lu said.

And Lu added that China will continue to "play an active role" to resolve issues related to North Korea.

Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have markedly improved recently. Kim traveled to Beijing in March to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and earlier this month the two leaders met again for two days in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian.

Kim's visit to Beijing in March was his first foreign trip since becoming North Korea's supreme leader following the death of his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011.