China, Japan start sixth round of East China Sea talks

China and Japan started the sixth round of talks on the East China Sea issues at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse Saturday afternoon.

Director of Chinese Foreign Ministry Department of Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue and head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kenichiro Sasae attended the talks as top negotiators.

The two chief negotiators shook hands across the negotiation table at the beginning of the talks.

"We've conducted three rounds of talks over the past four months on the East China Sea issues, which fully demonstrated that we both pay high attention to the issues," Hu told Sasae at the opening session.

He acknowledged that differences still exist between the two sides. "But it is well-founded for us to believe that as long as we both have sincerity and goodwill and work towards the common goal, we will be able to properly solve the issues," he said.

China and Japan have conducted five rounds of East China Sea talks since October 2004.

Early this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that to shelve disputes and jointly explore the region would be conducive to the stability in the East China Sea and the healthy development of China-Japan ties.

She said China hopes to work with Japan to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultation.

Source: Xinhua