BEIJING - China on Tuesday said deployment of buoys in waters around the Diaoyu Islands are for maritime meteorological observation.

At a daily press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, "As I know, Chinese related departments' deployment of buoys in the seas under Chinese administration are aimed at meteorological observations of the sea."

Hua made the remarks when asked to comment on a Japanese claim that China's set of buoys in waters around the Diaoyu Islands were aimed at collecting Japan's intelligence.