From April 30 to May 6, 2004, Ambassador for Korean Peninsula Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Ning Fukui paid visits to the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States and Japan to hold working consultations with relevant officials of the three parties on the launch of the Working Group for the Six-Party Talks. The ROK Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Choi Young-jin, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Lee Armitage of the US Department of State and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeuchi Yukio met with Ning.

Prior to his visits to the three countries, Ning has conducted working consultations with related officials in the Foreign Ministries of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Russian Federation.