Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda reached a consensus on the East China Sea issue during their talks on Friday.

The two sides will continue to adhere to the five-point consensus achieved by the leaders of the two countries in April 2007 in a bid to turn the East China Sea into a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.

The two sides have elevated the level of consultation, conducted earnest and substantive consultation on the concrete solution to the issue and made positive progress.

The two sides have agreed to conduct vice ministerial-level consultation if necessary while maintaining the current consultation framework, and to make joint efforts to reach an agreement on the solution to the issue at an early date on the basis of the overall situation of China-Japan relations and international law.

The solution to the East China Sea issue conforms with the interests of both China and Japan. The two sides agreed to strive for an early solution to the issue in the process of the developing bilateral ties.

"In this process, both sides have made earnest and pragmatic discussion and achieved positive progress ... I hope a solution accepted by both sides could be found at an early date."

 

China and Japan have held 11 rounds of talks on the East China Sea issue to date.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2007)