China and Japan started their 10th round of talks on the East China Sea issues at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Thursday morning.

Director of Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue attended the talks as the top Chinese negotiator.

Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau, and Harufumi Mochizuki, director-general of Japan's Natural Resources and Energy Agency, are representing the Japanese delegation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said last month that China will abide by the agreement reached by the leaders of the two countries and continue to push forward the momentum of consultation with a pragmatic attitude.

"We hope Japan contribute joint efforts with China," she said. 

During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Japan in April, China and Japan agreed to speed up talks over the joint development of oil and gas fields in a "relatively wide area that is acceptable to both sides," and to report concrete measures to the countries' leaders by this fall.

Since 2004 the two countries have held a total of nine rounds of East China Sea talks. The last round of talks was held in Tokyo in June. The two sides made in-depth discussions and exchanged views on the joint development of the gas and oil resources in the East China Sea. 

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2007)