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The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing: "Threatened with nuclear war, America is now looking to China to help defuse this crisis"
US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Beijing to urge China's leaders to use their influence on North Korea to reduce regional tensions.
Speaking to President Xi Jinping, Mr Kerry said the world was facing a "critical time".
Mr Kerry's four-day tour of Asia comes amid speculation that North Korea is preparing for a missile launch.
He has said that as the closest ally of Pyongyang China should "put some teeth" into urging restraint.
A flurry of warlike statements from Pyongyang has prompted speculation that it might launch a missile - possibly on 15 April, when the country marks the 101st birthday of the nation's founder and former leader, Kim Il-sung.
Analysis
Celia Hatton BBC Beijing correspondent
This is John Kerry's first visit to China as secretary of state, but he doesn't have the luxury of time to build a strong rapport with China's new leaders. Instead, he will try to convince Chinese officials to use their considerable economic leverage over North Korea to force the country to tone down its nuclear threats.
Many of Mr Kerry's predecessors have attempted to achieve the same thing, but it has been difficult to cajole Beijing into changing its long-standing policy towards its historical ally, North Korea.
Chinese leaders will also have some demands of their own: some in Beijing believe it is unfair for the US to place the burden for diffusing tensions in East Asia squarely on China's shoulders. Instead, they argue Washington needs to do more to make North Korea feel secure.
While visiting Seoul, Mr Kerry voiced his support for a future unified Korea - one that would almost certainly spell the end to North Korea's current regime and would presumably, be loyal to Washington. So far, that is a development that neither Kim Jong-un nor China wish to see.
North Korea has reportedly moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast, but on Saturday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted officials in Seoul as saying that no new movement of the mobile launchers had been detected for two days.
Since the UN imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea in February, its leadership has promised to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, has shut an emergency military hotline to South Korea, and has urged diplomatic staff to leave, saying it cannot guarantee their safety.
The North says it has also been angered by joint US-South Korean military exercises.
Though North Korean rhetoric has been more bellicose than usual, analysts say it fits a long-standing pattern, and may be intended to boost the popularity of Kim Jong-un, who came to power last year.
'Defuse this tension'After arriving in Beijing on Saturday and holding talks with his counterpart, Wang Yi, Mr Kerry told Mr Xi the world was facing "a critical time with some very challenging issues".
Among them were Korean tensions but also "the challenge of Iran and nuclear weapons, Syria and the Middle East, and economies around the world that are in need of a boost", he said.
He later said he and Mr Xi had had "constructive and forward-leaning" talks, without giving further details, Reuters reports.
Mr Xi did not comment directly on North Korea or the content of his discussions with Mr Kerry, but said the US-China was "at a new historical stage and has got off to a good start".
China's Foreign Ministry repeated its call for peace and dialogue, Reuters reports.
On Friday, during a visit to the South Korean capital, Seoul, Mr Kerry said the US would protect itself and its allies, and that his talks in Beijing would aim to "lay out a path that will defuse this tension".
Musudan missile
- The Musudan, also known as the Nodong-B or the Taepodong-X, is an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Its likely targets are Okinawa, Japan, and US bases in the Pacific
- Range estimates differ dramatically. Israeli intelligence suggests 2,500km, while the US Missile Defense Agency estimates 3,200km; other sources put the upper limit at 4,000km
- These differences are due in large part to the fact that the missile has never been tested publicly, according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Its payload is also unknown
He said no country had a closer relationship with Pyongyang than China.
Beijing, like Washington, wanted denuclearisation on the peninsula, he said, adding: "If that's your policy, you've got to put some teeth into it."
He warned North Korea against any missile launch, saying it would be a "provocation and unwanted act" which would further isolate North Korea and its people who, he said "are desperate for food, not missile launches".
China is North Korea's only ally and major trading partner, but has grown increasingly frustrated with its growing belligerence.
The BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing said Mr Kerry will be pressuring China to use its economic leverage to force its rebellious ally to tone down its threats.
But in turn, China is pushing the US to do more to make North Korea feel secure, says our correspondent.
In Seoul, Mr Kerry voiced his support for the vision of a reunified Korean peninsula - so far a development neither Chinese nor Korean leadership want to see, she adds.
Mr Kerry will continue his tour on Sunday by travelling to Tokyo.
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North Korean television has been showing various celebrations despite its increasingly bellicose rhetoric
Russia has also expressed growing concern over North Korea and said on Friday that it had issued "an urgent appeal" to Pyongyang "to refrain from actions which could lead to further escalation of tension".
Some estimates suggest that the missiles North Korea has moved to its east coast could travel 4,000km (2,500 miles), although it is not believed that the Musudan has been tested before.
That reach would put US bases on the Pacific island of Guam within range.
US officials including Mr Kerry have been playing down a leaked report from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) which warned there was "moderate" confidence Pyongyang had developed the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Pyongyang had "not demonstrated the capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile".
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