Beijing said on Thursday that it had "maximized its efforts" in addressing the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, dismissing accusations that it had not done enough.

After Pyongyang conducted what it called its first hydrogen bomb test on Wednesday, a senior official with the Foreign Ministry "elaborated China's stance (on the test) to the leading official of the DPRK embassy in Beijing", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.

Speculation of countermeasures was unfolding on the Korean Peninsula, including a report that Washington and Seoul were considering steps amid rising international criticism of the DPRK's fourth test since 2006.