China and Japan will on July 27 hold the first round of negotiation on the implementation of the principles of consensus concerning the East China Sea issue.

The decision came after a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Japanese counterpart, Okada Katsuya, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi, according to Foreign Ministry press release Thursday.

The decision was reached after consultations between the two nations' relevant departments, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in the release.

According to Qin, the two countries' foreign ministers expressed their satisfaction about the state of China-Japan relations in their meeting.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2010)