China and Japan agreed yesterday to set up a joint group to clear an estimated 660,000 chemical weapons abandoned in China by the invading Japanese Imperial Army at the end of World War II.

The agreement, which came during talks between officials of the two countries in Tokyo, is part of an ongoing project to remove weapons from around Dunhua in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Japan will dispatch about 50 consultants to the organization to speed up excavation of weapons from the area, according to Hisashi Michigami of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, who briefed reporters following the talks.

Chinese officials said they viewed Japan's efforts positively but demanded that excavation be speeded up, according to Michigami.

Japan has earmarked 93 billion yen (US$787 million) to clear weapons from the area and has so far recovered 38,000. But the arms are stored in Chinese warehouses and have yet to be disposed of, and disposal costs are expected to top those incurred in removing them, Michigami said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang blasted Japan's use and subsequent handling of the chemical weapons.

"It is a heinous crime committed by Japanese militants in the past ... a major leftover issue of history between the two countries, and a major threat to the life of people in the affected regions," Qin said in Beijing.

"We hope that Japan can abide by its commitment to solve this issue earnestly and at an early date," he said.

Japan occupied China's northeast from 1933 until its wartime defeat in 1945. The retreating Japanese army left an estimated 700,000 shells with mustard gas and other poisons, almost half of which likely remain in the Jilin area, according to a Japanese government estimate.

The abandoned chemical weapons have killed at least 2,000 people in China since 1945.

A 1997 international convention required Japan to remove the weapons by April 2007. But Japan and China requested an extension until 2012 because of the large number of weapons still to be unearthed.

Editor: Yan