China on Friday urged "all parties" to step up efforts to swiftly resume talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program after U.S. lawmakers submitted a bill calling for tougher sanctions on the North.  
  

Two U.S. lawmakers, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), introduced the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act (H.R. 757) Thursday over the authoritarian state's alleged cyber-attack on Sony Pictures.
  

"The Chinese side always maintains that sanctions should not be used in international relations and does not help solve problems," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters during a regular press briefing, when asked about the new U.S. bill.
  

"Under the current circumstances, we believe that all parties should make use of their wisdom, step up negotiations and make efforts to resume the six-party talks at an early date," Hong said.
  

U.S. President Barack Obama has vowed to punish North Korea after the FBI determined that the North was behind the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, which released a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
  

Early last month, the U.S. government also imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea, blacklisting three North Korean entities and 10 officials, including the Reconnaissance General Bureau, Pyongyang's top spy agency.
  

South Korea and the U.S. have called on China, the economic lifeline of North Korea, to do more to rein in the North's unruly behaviors and nuclear ambitions.
  

The six-party talks, including South Korea, North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have not been held for about six years. The negotiations aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambition have failed to gain traction as North Korea conducted nuclear and missile tests. (Yonhap)