China has dropped initial doubts and now agrees with the United States that North Korea has a uranium-based nuclear programme, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday. The dispute over North Korea's nuclear weapons development erupted in 2002, when US officials accused Pyongyang of running a secret uranium-enrichment programme in violation of a previous agreement. China had long questioned the US accusation, saying Washington had not shown conclusive evidence that a uranium programme exists. But Beijing in recent months has edged toward the US position, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Sunday in a report from Washington, citing anonymous sources from the US government and six-nation nuclear talks involving Pyongyang. Since last June it has conveyed to Washington through both official and unofficial diplomatic channels that it was "aware of the uranium enrichment programme," the Asahi said. Most recently, the newspaper quoted Chinese officials as saying, "we share your belief that a uranium-enrichment programme exists" to Michael Green, the US National Security Council's senior director for Asian affairs, when he visited Beijing last month. Beijing, the North's main ally and a major source of aid for the impoverished nation, has played a large role in the six-nation nuclear talks, but has been wary of openly criticizing Pyongyang. Its apparent shift in position could signal that it will begin exerting its influence more strongly on the North's hardline regime, the Japanese newspaper said. Since 2003, Beijing has hosted three rounds of nuclear talks which also involved North Korea, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia, with little progress.