ANKARA

Japan has lodged a protest with China over its building of a new structure in a contested area of the East China Sea, which China has called "groundless accusations."

In a statement on Monday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said China has begun installing a new structure on the Chinese side of the median line between the two countries.

"It is extremely regrettable that China is advancing unilateral development in the East China Sea while the Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf in the East China Sea have not yet been delimited," it said.

Kanai Masaaki, Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, issued a strong protest to Shi Yong, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. Kanai urged China to halt its activities and resume stalled talks on resource cooperation.

In response, Beijing has stated that the aforementioned activities are conducted "entirely within undisputed waters under China's jurisdiction and fall completely within its sovereign rights and jurisdiction," rejecting "Japan's groundless accusations and its so-called protest."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said during a regular news conference in Beijing that "China's position of adhering to and working for the full and effective implementation of the principled consensus on East China Sea issues remains unchanged," according to the state-run Global Times.

Guo also expressed hope that Tokyo will cooperate with Beijing to "help restart intergovernmental negotiations at an early date and play a constructive role."

Japan considers the median line, located between the two countries’ coastlines, as the official maritime border under its domestic law, while China claims its exclusive economic zone extends much farther.

Although Japan and China agreed in 2008 to jointly develop gas fields in the region, negotiations have been stalled for some time.