Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa on Wednesday confirmed that a complex tied to a natural gas project being carried out by a Chinese consortium has been built near Japan's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, government sources said.
Nakagawa, who examined the area in question from a Japan Coast Guard airplane, said the complex had been newly built for the rig project near the intermediate line dividing the two countries' EEZs.
Equipment used to separate gas from oil, a heliport and a housing facility were also seen during the hourlong aerial inspection of the area, where there are three known offshore gas fields, the sources said.