China, Japan Can't Come to Terms

China and Japan are going to continue argiung over gas and oil exploration of the East China Sea. The two parties are to mmet each other in Beijing at the end of January or early February.

The two sides reached the agreement after informal negotiations between Cui Tiankan, director of the Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, and his visiting Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae, according to sources from the Japanese side.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on the talks.

The latest round of talks on the issue took place last October in Tokyo, in which the two countries agreed in principle to develop the area jointly, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang last week in a regular briefing.