Japan is seeking to break the impasse in talks with China over the joint development of natural gas fields in the East China Sea.
China and Japan, Asia's largest energy users, have failed to resolve the dispute over the fields, which may contain as much as 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas, after a series of talks. Japan is stepping up efforts to break the deadlock before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Tokyo in April.
Japan has proposed to China a new joint project plan, under which the two nations will develop gas fields in a wider area surrounding the median line of the two countries in the East China Sea, the Nikkei newspaper reported today, without saying where it obtained the information.
Japan originally sought to limit the joint development area to the four gas fields, which are being developed by China. The four fields include the Chunxiao field.
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Japan Tries To Persuade China: East Sea Gas Dispute
China and Japan, Asia's largest energy users, have failed to resolve the dispute over the East China Sea
