Chinese President Xi Jinping called on France to help ease the situation in North Korea during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.<br/><br/>State media said today, the conversation came one day after statements from China supporting stronger sanctions against Pyongyang and necessary measures at the UN Security Council, where China and France both hold vetoes. <br/><br/>Xi said China hopes that France, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will play a constructive role in easing the situation and restarting dialogue on North Korea. North Korea triggered global alarm Sunday with its most powerful nuclear blast to date, claiming to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.<br/><br/>During the call, the Chinese leader expressed his desire for the "denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," which he had also noted during a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel hours earlier. Macron told Xi that France is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to promote the proper settlement of the nuclear issue. Earlier, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said the German leader and Xi both agreed to support tougher sanctions against North Korea.<br/><br/>China, which is the North's biggest ally and accounts for 90 per cent of its trade, is seen as key to efforts to convince Pyongyang to abandon its weapons programme.