Japan has expressed regret over China’s decision to skip this year’s International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting being held next week in Tokyo.

Japan’s Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs Takehiko Nakao said that Chinese financial officials’ decision to pull out of the IMF-World Bank conference is very disappointing and regrettable.

However, he added that Japan has not yet received any official notice from China.

Nakao stressed that the diplomatic conflict between the two countries over a group of islands in the East China Sea should not hurt bilateral cooperation in the international financial field.