Mr Kim says North Korea and the US must narrow their differences
The envoys of all the other parties to the talks except Russia are also in the Chinese capital for the meetings.
North Korea's envoy Kim Kye-gwan said his country was ready for talks, which he said would be on an "equal level" following its 9 October nuclear test.
US envoy Christopher Hill said he expects talks to restart "very soon".
Mr Hill met Kim Kye-gwan earlier on Tuesday. Both men are also meeting separately with diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China.
Beijing hopes the "relevant parties can have an in-depth exchange of ideas in order to promote the early resumption of talks," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said.
'Defensive measures'
Mr Kim, upon arrival in Beijing, said North Korea was ready to start talks at "any time".
"We have taken defensive measures against sanctions imposed on us, through the nuclear experiment," he told reporters.
"As we have attained that position, we can now have discussions on an equal level."
But Mr Kim admitted there were differences with the US that still needed to be narrowed.
Mr Hill told reporters when he arrived in Beijing on Monday that he expected the multi-party talks to "get going at some point very soon".
North Korea's nuclear test on 9 October triggered international alarm and condemnation, and prompted the UN to impose financial and arms sanctions.
But at the end of last month, Pyongyang agreed to restart six-party talks at an informal meeting between Mr Hill and Mr Kim in Beijing.
The talks - which are ultimately aimed at halting North Korea's nuclear ambitions - stalled a year ago after Pyongyang pulled out in protest at US financial sanctions imposed upon it.
While the resumption of talks has been welcomed by all parties to the talks, Japan warned at the time that they were conditional on North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons.
Graphic from the  showing seismic activity at the time of the test

The envoys of the United States, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea have reached Beijing. They will hold a meeting to negotiate over the North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

The US State Department has said that a meeting between Christopher Hill, US negotiator, and  DPRK's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan was an “open possibility”.

The top North Korean envoy, , had indicated that the initiative for negotiations should be taken by the United States and that the DPRK was ready to negotiate at any time. He said that DPTK was in a “dignified position” as it had demonstrated through its nuclear test that it could defend itself against sanctions and other pressures. 

Any meetings between the envoys will be informal and, according to the Chun Yung-woo the South Korean envoy, will concentrate on preparing the ground for negotiations and will not address the issues directly. 

Christopher Hill said "The issue for us is to make sure we are extremely well-planned and ready for the six-party talks, which we do anticipate will get going at some point very soon,"

The negotiations are expected to discuss such matters as US economic sanctions against DRPK, the recent underground nuclear test in North Korea and the development of long range ballistic missiles by the DPRK.