China has full sovereign rights to name places in Zangnan: foreign ministry

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Zangnan region is China's territory and China does not recognize the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" illegally set up by India, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday.

Guo made the remarks at a regular news briefing when asked to comment on the statement of the spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, which expressed rejection to China assigning names to places in "Arunachal Pradesh."

Guo said it is fully within China's sovereign rights for the Chinese government to issue standard names for some of the places in Zangnan.

Noting that China-India relations are generally stable at the moment, Guo said China's commitment to improving and growing China-India relations has not changed.

"We hope the two sides will work in the same direction and act more in ways conducive to bilateral relations," the spokesperson said.