(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-04 00:05

TOKYO -- A team of Chinese experts met with their Japanese counterparts over a food poisoning case involving Chinese-made frozen dumplings Sunday afternoon at the Japanese Cabinet Office.

During the talks, experts from the two sides conducted a candid exchange of views over the ongoing investigation into the incident and agreed to continue discussions on Monday, the Chinese team told Xinhua.

Japanese media said the talks will concentrate on the question of how the pesticide substance called methamidophos got into the food products by a mysteriously huge amount since the Chinese producer, the Tian Yang Food Plant in north China's Hebei Province, never used such material in its factory.

The two sides have agreed to refrain from making any subjective conclusion before a thorough and full investigation, Chinese embassy officials said.

The five-member Chinese team, made up of officials and experts from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the Commerce Ministry, the Certification and Accreditation Administration, the Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, and Heibei provincial quality watchdog, arrived in Tokyo earlier in the afternoon.

Li Chunfeng, vice director of the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of the AQSIQ and head of the team, has pledged to have close cooperation with the Japanese side for an objective and fair outcome.

The Japanese side consists of experts and officials of the Cabinet Office, the National Police Agency, the Foreign Ministry, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.