China welcomes Trump-Kim summit as 'positive progress'

Beijing [China], May 11 (ANI): China on Friday welcomed the upcoming meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump, saying it is a "positive progress" between the two leaders.
"The Chinese side expects the meeting to achieve positive outcomes, to take an important step in promoting denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, in resolving the Korean Peninsula issue politically, as well as in achieving lasting peace and stability in the region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the highly anticipated meeting between him and Kim will take place in Singapore on June 12.
Trump took to Twitter to break the news.
"The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!," Trump tweeted.
The meet marks the first time that a sitting US president will meet with a North Korean head of state.
Trump's announcement came after he and Vice President Mike Pence received three former American detainees who returned from North Korea on Thursday.
President Trump received Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-Chul at Maryland in the US where they had reached in a helicopter.
"We are starting off on a new footing -- I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful. A lot of very good things have happened," Trump said as he greeted the former prisoners at Joint Base Andrews.
"It is a great honour. Hope everything works fine." Trump said.
The official North Korean media quoted Kim on Wednesday as saying the encounter with Trump "would be a historic meeting" and an "excellent first step toward the promotion of the positive situation development in the Korean peninsula and building a good future".
The US president had earlier floated the idea of holding the meeting in the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, which separates North and South Korea. (ANI)