China has delivered the first shipment of 50,000 tons of heavy oil aid it pledged to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said yesterday in Beijing.

The first shipment of heavy fuel oil arrived in the port of Nampo on Sunday, Jiang said.

The DPRK, under a joint document issued at the six-party talks on February 13, should declare all nuclear programs and disable all existing nuclear facilities in exchange for a total of one million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid, with an initial shipment of 50,000 tons.

The Republic of Korea delivered 6,200 tons on July 15, soon after which the DPRK announced it shutdown the Yongbyon reactor, a substantial step, after a 10-member team of United Nations inspectors arrived in the capital Pyongyang to verify and monitor the sealing of the reactor.

Top negotiators to the six party talks from China, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK, Russia and Japan, agreed in July to provide the DPRK with economic, energy and humanitarian assistance.

Envoys also agreed to meet in Beijing in early September to create a road map for implementing the second phase of DPRK's denuclearization process. This includes the DPRK declaring all of its nuclear programs and disabling existing nuclear facilities. "We consider it necessary for the six parties to reconvene at a proper time. The date for the next phase should be decided by all parties concerned," said Jiang.