China has demanded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to "severely punish" its border guards who shot dead three Chinese nationals and wounded another last week, Chinese authorities said Thursday.

The incident took place in early morning of June 4 when some residents of Dandong City in northeast China's Liaoning Province, who were suspected of crossing the border for trade activities, were shot by DPRK border guards, the Liaoning provincial government said in a statement faxed to Xinhua.

"China attaches great importance to the incident and immediately lodged solemn representations to the DPRK," it said.

"China demands the DPRK thoroughly investigate the incident, severely punish those responsible for it, and properly deal with issues arising from it," it said.

The DPRK border defense authorities had said an initial investigation showed the shooting was "accidental", the statement said.

The DPRK side expressed sorrow for the deaths in the incident, and extended condolences to families of the deceased and the injured, the statement said.

"The DPRK side said it would severely punish those responsible for the shooting.

"The DPRK border defense authorities said they would further investigate the incident and prevent such things from happening again," the statement said.

Border authorities of China and DPRK were holding more talks to handle issues related to the incident, it added.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2010)