Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Wednesday said the Chinese government opposed Japan "making new trouble" over the disputed East China Sea area.

Qin made the remark in response to reports in some Japanese media that Japan had protested China's recent gas exploration operations in the East China Sea.

He said China conducted oil and gas exploration operations on its own continental shelf of the East China Sea, which was "beyond reproach".

"China and Japan do have some disagreements on the demarcation of the East China Sea," Qin said, calling for the two sides to resolve the issue through negotiations.

China and Japan dispute the demarcation of the East China Sea. The two countries have never conducted a demarcation of the area and China refuses to recognize Japan's unilateral claim of a so-called "median line".

China has also proposed shelving the disagreement and jointly exploring the region to help maintain stability of the East China Sea and the healthy development of China-Japan ties.

The two countries have conducted six rounds of East China Sea talks since October 2004. The last round was conducted in Beijing in July.

Source: Xinhua