China on Wednesday ruled out the possible meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the sidelines the G-8 Summit this month.

Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said Hu would take part in a series of bilateral meetings at the G8 summit in St.Petersburg, Russia on July 17, but there was no plan yet for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"We are busily consulting with others, but so far, these bilateral meetings do not include one between China and Japan," Cui told reporters at a press briefing ahead of Hu's trip.

"We all know very clearly the crux and obstacles for the current delicate situation of Sino-Japan relations... maybe you will get the answer from Japan," he said in response to a reporter's question.

China-Japan relations have been strained by a number of contentious political issues, most recently over North Korea's missile tests last week.

Japan has urged fellow UN Security Council members to support a binding resolution that would impose sanctions on the North, while veto-wielding China strongly opposes the measure in favor of diplomatic negotiations.

Relations have also been strained by Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni shrine and a drawn-out dispute over lucrative gas and oil fields in the East China Sea.

Hu has refused to meet Koizumi because he has continued to visit Yasukuni, which honors 2.5 million war dead including 14 top World War II criminals and is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan's militarist past.

The leaders of the two countries halted exchange of visits following Koizumi's homage at the war shrine soon after he took office in 2001.

US President George W. Bush said Monday he hoped Japan's relations with China and South Korea would improve.

"It's in American interests that we work closely with Japan. It's also in our interests that Japan has got better relations with China and South Korea," Bush told reporters before departing for the G8 summit.

Cui said the United States had expressed an interest in a bilateral meeting with China at the summit but declined to confirm whether Hu would meet with Bush.

He said Hu will hold a trilateral meeting with leaders from Russia and India as well as a group meeting with leaders from India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and the Republic of Congo at the summit on "safeguarding global peace and promoting international cooperation."

Cui said Hu will also hold a series of one-on-one meetings, including possible meetings with President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush.

Hu and Bush "have expressed their hope in their phone talks to meet each other" in St.Petersburg, Cui said, adding that the schedule of all bilateral meetings are still under consultations.