Japanese economy, trade and industry minister Shoichi Nakagawa has said Japan might accept China's offer to jointly explore for oil and gas in the East China Sea, but only after Beijing halted exploration and provided details of its on-going gas projects there.
Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, said the same day that the two countries could settle their dispute in a mutually satisfactory manner and that China agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in calling for developing the area into a "sea of peaceful co-operation”.
The latest moves follow the release of a geophysical survey which shows underground structures in two Chinese-developed gas fields in the disputed area extending into waters claimed by Japan.
The two Asian nations are arguing over a "median line" separating the two countries' exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea.
State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation plans to begin drilling in the area in August.
But Japan has said it would soon begin its own preparations for drilling if China failed to provide a sincere response to its demands.
