AKIPRESS.COM - China's foreign minister has told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that his country is "against all forms of cyber attacks and cyber terrorism," reports BBC.

The remarks came in a phone conversation in which the two discussed the hacking of Sony Pictures

The U.S. has accused North Korea of attacking the studio over the film The Interview - a claim Pyongyang rejects.

President Barack Obama has said the U.S. is considering putting North Korea back on its list of terrorism sponsors.

Sony last week cancelled the release of The Interview, which depicts the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, following threats made by a group that hacked into Sony's servers and leaked sensitive information and emails.

China is North Korea's close ally and its largest trading partner, and is seen as the nation with the most influence over Pyongyang.

The United States has asked countries including China for help confronting North Korea, but the issue of hacking is a sensitive one in Sino-US relations, with the two sides frequently trading accusations of cyber espionage.

A statement posted on China's foreign ministry's website on Monday noted that in the discussion of the hacking: "Wang Yi reiterated China's relevant position, emphasising that China is against all forms of cyber attacks and cyber terrorism."

"It opposes any country or person using infrastructure from another country to launch a cyber attack on a third-party country."

There was no mention direct of North Korea in the statement, however