BEIJING - Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping on Tuesday urged Japan's leaders to admit their mistakes and make real efforts to improve bilateral ties.

Cheng made the comment at a press briefing in the Beijing Bureau of the RIA Novosti News Agency. Russian ambassador to China Denisov Andrey was also present.

As close neighbors, we pay great attention to our ties with Japan. China has always advocated relations with Japan, based on the four political documents and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future, Cheng said.

The current difficult situation is caused entirely by Japan, Cheng said.

"The Japanese leader's visit to the Yasukuni shrine is the last thing that the Chinese people can bear. It creates a new, severe tension in the ties," Cheng said.

On December 26, 2013, Abe visited the Yasukuni shrine to show respect to the Japanese war dead, sparking protests from China and the Republic of Korea, and international criticism. The shrine honors 14 WWII Class-A war criminals.