(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-29 19:58

BEIJING -- China is willing to continue its active consultation with Japan on the East China Sea issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said here Tuesday.

Jiang made the remarks when asked to comment on whether the issue could be resolved during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan this spring.

She said China hopes to work with Japan in deepening cooperation in various fields and is willing to discuss with the Japanese side on Hu's upcoming visit.

"China will maintain the process and momentum of the consultation based on sincerity and active attitude, and try to seek an early settlement of the issue with the improvement of bilateral ties," Jiang said.

China and Japan have convened 11 rounds of talks on the East China Sea issue. The two sides had reached four new consensus on the issue during talks between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last month.