The United States and China must find a way forward on reining in North Korea's nuclear program and easing tension in the South China Sea, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday, January 27 during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Reuters reports.

Kerry, on a two-day visit to Beijing, had been expected to press China to push for more curbs on North Korea after it said it had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on January 6.

Though the United States and China had made good progress on issues from climate change to counter-terrorism, "clearly we have several important issues that we need to find the way forward on", Kerry told Wang, according to a pool report on the meeting.

"One is the nuclear program of the DPRK, North Korea, a major challenge to global security, one of the most important issues for the security of the United States of America," Kerry said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Reuters says.

The 15-member UN Security Council said at the time of North Korea's test that it would begin working on significant new measures in response, a threat diplomats said could mean an expansion of sanctions.

Kerry also told Wang that the two countries had to make progress on "concerns and activities in the South China Sea."