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)
