Japan and China, in their government-level meeting, failed again Thursday to settle a trade row over Japan's emergency import curbs, according to officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

In the one-day meeting in Beijing, the two sides merely agreed to continue talks by holding similar meetings more often, the officials said.

Japan set a self-imposed Dec. 21 deadline for deciding whether to formally slap "safeguard" curbs against three farm imports that mostly come from China.

Earlier in the day, METI chief Takeo Hiranuma said he expected the day's talks to yield results, in line with an agreement last month between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Jiang Zemin to settle the issue through dialogue.

"I have given orders for the utmost efforts to be made. I expect to see progress," Hiranuma told a news conference.

The trade row stems from Japan's provisional safeguard restrictions on stone leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes used in tatami mats. The tariffs were imposed in April for 200 days to protect domestic farmers.

Japanese officials, led by Hitoshi Tanaka, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau, are expected to have pressed Chinese officials to curb exports of the products to levels satisfactory to both sides.

According to government data unveiled Wednesday, Japan's rush imports doubled for the week of Nov. 9 to 16 from the same period last year, after the 200-day safeguards expired on Nov. 8.

China, meanwhile, has slapped 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese motor vehicles, air conditioners and mobile phones since June in retaliation.

Hiranuma admitted domestic agricultural producers and the political farm lobby are intensifying their pressure for an early imposition of the full four-year curbs, given the continued import surge as seen in rushes, as well as China's retaliatory measures.

Hiranuma and Chinese trade chief Shi Guangsheng failed to resolve the issue when they met Nov. 12 in Qatar for a ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization.

Trade surplus down

The nation's customs-cleared trade surplus fell 32.9 percent in October from a year earlier to 462.5 billion yen, down for the 16th straight month, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

A slump in global demand for information technology products was seen as behind the continued fall.

A ministry official said that while he is not sure about the impact on trade of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, data seem to suggest that Japan's trade activities have been affected by the incident.

Exports decreased 9 percent to 4.07 trillion yen and imports fell 4.7 percent to 3.61 trillion yen, the ministry said in a preliminary report. The figures show that both exports and imports of IT-related products fell substantially.

Exports of semiconductors and other electronics components fell 33.8 percent and those of office equipment, including personal computers, dropped 20.1 percent.

Imports of semiconductors and other electronics components decreased 36 percent and those of office equipment fell 28.8 percent.

The ministry official said exports have been falling because of the global slowdown and imports have been hit by the slump in the IT market.

"It is difficult to predict, but the surplus is not in an upward trend," the official said.

The trade data are measured on a customs-cleared basis before adjustment for seasonal factors.

The surplus with the U.S. fell 4.3 percent to 617.08 billion yen, with exports down 8.1 percent to 1.25 trillion yen and imports falling 11.5 percent. to 631.26 billion yen.

Exports to the U.S. of cars rose 26.2 percent, however, partly because automobile dealers were offering interest-free loans in a sales drive after the Sept. 11 attacks.

However, exports of semiconductors and other electronics components to the American market plunged 54.5 percent, while exports of office equipment dropped 28.8 percent.

Imports from the U.S. of semiconductors and other electronics parts fell 33.2 percent and those of office equipment decreased 28.4 percent.

Imports of meat, particularly of chilled pork, rose 23.8 percent, apparently because the discovery of mad cow disease in Japan increased demand for foreign meat.

The trade surplus with the 15-member European Union fell 25.8 percent to 180.01 billion yen for the 14th straight monthly fall.

The surplus with the rest of Asia plunged 73.7 percent to 61.97 billion yen, down for the 11th consecutive month.