China and Japan on Thursday failed to resolve a festering trade dispute at the end of two days of talks in Tokyo, a Japanese official said.
"When it came to discussing concrete steps to solve the problem, I got the impression that the gap (between Japan and China) is still wide," said Shoji Yamano, a Japanese agriculture ministry official who attended the talks.
"We did not reach an agreement," he told a news conference.
The two Asian countries are trying to end a trade dispute triggered by Tokyo's decision in April to impose 200-day restrictions on imports from China of stone leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes used in tatami mats.
Beijing struck back in June with 100 percent punitive tariffs on Japanese cars, mobile phones and air conditioners.
The Japanese curbs expire on Thursday, meaning tariffs on the three products will come back down to three to six percent.
During the period of sanctions, tariffs of 106 to 266 percent were slapped on imports that exceeded limits set by the Japanese government.
Japanese media have said that Tokyo would not impose full sanctions right away because it would fuel the trade row and officials in Tokyo stress they want a negotiated solution.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference after the talks: "We will stick to a policy of seeking to solve the issue by negotiation. I hope this will be solved in that way."
Assuming no agreement is reached, the next deadline is December 21, when, under WTO rules, Japan would have to submit the proof required to shift to full sanctions.
The meeting was attended by private agricultural groups from Japan and China, as well as Tokyo's agricultural, finance, foreign and trade ministries and Beijing's trade ministry.
Yamano said Japan would continue to strive to resolve the dispute through dialogue by December 21. He proposed holding the next round of government discussions as early as next week, mostly likely in Beijing.
(China Daily November 8, 2001)
