BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- China feels regret that some Japanese make Japan's loans to China a sensitive issue, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao here on Tuesday.

    Liu told a regular press briefing that Japanese loans to China or the Sino-Japanese capital cooperation should be a positive element of the bilateral relations, and it will do harm to both sides to make it a "very sensitive" issue by some Japanese over recent years.

    Liu said the Chinese side welcomes that the Japanese side has declared to attach importance to the Sino-Japanese relations, but "only attaching importance is not enough, we hope them can take sincere actions for the improvement and development of bilateral relations", he stressed.

    The Japanese government made a formal decision on Tuesday to end its freeze on the annual disbursement of loans to China for fiscal 2005 through March, Kyodo News reported.

    The decision was made by a top decision-making panel on foreign aid strategy comprising Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Taro Aso and other Cabinet ministers, reports said.

    Koizumi told reporters that the decision had been made after an overall assessment of the situation, adding that he "always attached importance" to Sino-Japanese ties, Reuters reported.

    In last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue conference, during which Li urged the Japanese government to remove political obstacle to improving and developing bilateral ties. Enditem