China on Thursday assailed Japan's prime minister as obstinate and wrong for saying his nation won't compromise in their island dispute, as Japanese lawmakers and business leaders visited Beijing with hopes of mending ties.

Relations between Japan and China are at their lowest in years because of their spat over the island group in the East China Sea known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Japan says it bought the islands this month to thwart Japanese nationalists' more radical plans to develop them. But China saw the move as wrecking a prior arrangement with Tokyo, and it and many Chinese have responded with outrage.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said in New York on Wednesday that the islands are clearly an "inherent part of our territory, in light of history and international law." He said that issues over the islands should be resolved peacefully and by the rule of law.

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday that "China is strongly disappointed and sternly opposes the Japanese leader's obstinacy regarding his wrong position." His statement repeated China's stance that Japan was ignoring historical facts and international laws.