China and Japan ended the sixth round of East China Sea talks at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse Sunday noon, but great differences still remained.

Hu Zhengyue (L) chief of Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, and Kenichiro Sasae, head of Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania Bureau, shake hands as they start talks in Tokyo May 18, 2006.[File Photo]

The two sides acknowledged the importance of maintaining stability in the East China Sea and agreed in principle to set up a maritime hotline to deal with unpredictable situations in the area, a press release from China's Foreign Ministry said.

Director of Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue and head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kenichiro Sasae attended the talks as top negotiators.

The negotiators exchanged their views on the proposals of each side on jointly exploring the resources of the East China Sea in a "frankly' way, according to the press release.

Despite "great differences", the two sides agreed that the two-day talks are conducive and pragmatic and will continue the negotiation process, according to the press release.

Jin Xide, a researcher of Japan studies from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the consensus of setting up a communication mechanism demonstrated that both China and Japan hope to avoid conflicts in the area.

"This is a very positive step," he added.

The sixth round of talks has made headway, he said. "From the political perspective, the two sides have agreed to continue the consultation; Technically speaking, the negotiation has begun to touch upon very specific issues."

China and Japan have disputes over the demarcation of the East China Sea and the Chinese side holds that such disputes should be solved through consultations.

China and Japan have never conducted a demarcation of the East China Sea and China doesn't recognize Japan's unilateral claim of a so-called "median line" in the East China Sea, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China has also stressed that to shelve disputes and jointly explore the region would be conducive to the stability of the East China Sea and the healthy development of China-Japan ties.

The two countries have conducted five rounds of East China Sea talks since October 2004. Last round of talks was conducted in Tokyo in May.