Japan has urged China to play bigger role in restraining North Korea's nuclear and missile development programmes. <br/><br/>Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement today that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's top security adviser Shotaro Yachi urged China's top diplomat in Japan, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, to ask North Korea to avoid further provocative actions and obey United Nations resolutions. <br/><br/>He said North Korea's actions had reached a new level of provocation and urged China to take a bigger role in restraining North Korea's nuclear and missile development programmes. <br/><br/>The meeting took place a day after Pyongyang test fired a new ballistic missile controlled by a precision guidance system and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the development of more powerful strategic weapons.