US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Beijing on mission to pressure China on North Korea’s nuclear tests

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night on his mission to press China to address North Korea’s nuclear testing programme.

Kerry’s trip to Beijing came after he visited Laos and Cambodia, where he said the military build-up in the South China Sea should be avoided, but failed to secure the two nations' commitment to take a more robust stance against China’s territorial claims over the disputed waters.

Kerry will meet President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

READ MORE: Chinese President Xi Jinping tipped to attend nuclear summit in US

Kerry’s priority was to get Beijing to step up pressure on Pyongyang as world powers discussed a new set of international sanctions in response to North Korea’s nuclear test this month, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday quoted a senior State Department official travelling with Kerry as saying.

In a phone conversation with Wang this month, Kerry said the nuclear test showed that Beijing’s approach towards Pyongyang had not worked.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday it was “irresponsible” for the United States to urge Bejing to do more to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

Tong Zhao, an associate with Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Programme at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy, said Kerry would certainly press China to impose economic sanctions against North Korea, for instance, by stopping the export of fuel and food to Pyongyang and ending the reclusive state’s imports of minerals.