TOKYO (AFP) — Japan said on Wednesday it has failed to resolve a bitter row with China over the right to gas fields in the East China Sea, despite efforts to conclude a deal when President Hu Jintao visits next week.
Hu will visit Japan from Tuesday in the second trip ever by a Chinese head of state to Tokyo as Asia's two largest economies work to repair uneasy ties.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said the two sides are hoping the summit between Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Hu will bring progress of some sort.
"We have engaged in active negotiations so that we could have some kind of closure to the issue when President Hu Jintao visits Japan," said Machimura, the government's chief spokesman.
"The talks are getting close to a conclusion, but it appears we still have a wide gap before we can reach an agreement," Machimura said.
The two countries, both major energy importers, are locked in an ongoing dispute over lucrative drilling rights to gas fields in the East China Sea, among many other bilateral concerns.
"We have to see what kind of conclusion the two leaders will reach when they meet. I think the working-level discussions will continue until the very last moment," he said.
Fukuda visited China in December when the two sides only agreed to seek a resolution on the issue at an early date.
Fukuda, who took office in September, has sought friendly ties with China, which refused high-level contact during the 2001-2006 premiership of Junichiro Koizumi due to his visits to a shrine that honours Japanese war dead, including war criminals.
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