TEHRAN A team of U.S. negotiators arrived in Beijing Tuesday to press for the return of a U.S. surveillance plane that made an emergency landing in Chinese territory, as Beijing renewed its demand that the U.S. end spy missions near its coast.

The delegation headed by U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Peter Verga arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing Tuesday afternoon and was slated to hold talks Wednesday with Chinese officials on the April 1 collision between the U.S. plane and a Chinese fighter jet.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhang Qiyue told journalists the U.S. should stop sending airplanes to conduct reconnaissance activities in areas near the Chinese coast and take measures so as to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Zhang reiterated Beijing's position that the United States was "fully responsible" for the April 1 mid-air collision with the Chinese F-8 fighter, resulting in the death of the Chinese pilot and the "unauthorized" emergency landing of the U.S. plane.

Responding to U.S. demands that the high-tech spy plane be returned to the U.S., Zhang reiterated the right of the Chinese government to hold "full investigations" into the U.S. plane, while indicating the fate of the plane would be decided after the investigations were completed.

Earlier in Washington, the U.S. side said it would "ask tough questions about the manner in which the Chinese have been intercepting our aircraft in the area and also to state our position about the EP-3 plane that needs to be returned," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.