"China has been very, very helpful in this process and continues to be. I think we hope to see a change in behaviour," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
"It is a very positive sign, the level and engagement that China has enacted," Spicer told reporters when asked about the simmering tension in the Korean peninsula amid fears that the North may test another nuclear weapon triggering a military conflict with the US.
Spicer's comments came hours after US President Donald Trump called for additional sanctions on North Korea.
"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem," he said.