A Chinese official has repeated that the main sticking point in China-Japan relations is some Japanese leaders' insistence on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.

"His move hurts the feelings of the people of China and other victimized countries, and undermines the political foundation of China-Japan relations", Wang Guoqing, deputy director of the Information Office of the State Council, said at a press briefing given to Chinese and Japanese news organizations here Wednesday.

Wang emphasized that the Chinese government values the China-Japan relations and regards it as one of the important bilateral relations in the world.

Wang said China has made continuous efforts to improve the ties.

He noted that Chinese President Hu Jintao has emphasized on many occasions that the problems arising in the China-Japan relations need to be properly solved with an attitude of being responsible for the history, for the people and for the future.

In his meeting with the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations last month, Hu urged Japanese leaders to respect and draw a lesson from the history and act out of a consideration for the benefits of the two peoples and for a bright future of China-Japan relations.

"President Hu has clearly expressed his willingness to hold talks with Japanese leaders as soon as they stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine which honors Japan's World War II war criminals", Wang noted.

Source: Xinhua