New Delhi - China has shown willingness to seek common approaches in solving Tibet's problems despite major differences with exiled Tibetan dissidents, an envoy of Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama said Thursday.

"There were strong and divergent views on the nature as well as the causes of the recent tragic events in Tibet," Kasur Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, a special envoy of the Dalai Lama, said in a statement on his talks with Chinese authorities in Shenzhen on May 4.

"These views were expressed in a frank and candid manner," Lodi Gyari said in the statement issued from the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.

"Despite major differences on important issues, both sides demonstrated a willingness to seek common approaches in addressing the issues at hand. In this regard, each side made some concrete proposals, which can be part of the future agenda," he said.

Saying that an understanding was reached to continue the formal round of discussions, the Tibetan official mentioned that the date for the seventh round of talks will be finalized soon after mutual consultations.

The Chinese government has engaged in six rounds of dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2002. However no progress has been reported. The last round was held in June 2007.

The Tibetan administration, which classified the discussions in Shenzhen as "informal talks," said it had taken up the "urgent issue of the current crisis in the Tibetan areas" after the anti-China unrest there since March 14.

"We welcome the recent statement of President Hu Jintao that his government is 'serious' about the dialogue and his acknowledging that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is being 'conscientious and serious'", Lodi Gyari said.

In the talks with the Chinese officials, including Executive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and Vice Minister Sithar (who uses only one name), the Tibetan side made it clear that the crisis was a "clear symptom of deeply felt grievances and resentment" of the Tibetans with the "wrong policies" of the Chinese authorities.

Lodi Gyari categorically rejected Chinese accusations that Dalai Lama was behind the violence in Tibet and was trying to sabotage the Olympic Games in China.

"The task at hand is to address the legitimate concerns of the Tibetan people in a realistic and constructive way," the envoy said.

He said the Tibetan side had appealed for ending the "current repression" throughout Tibet, the release of prisoners, proper medical treatment for the injured and access to visitors including the media.

China said 18 civilians and one police officer died in the March 14 rioting in Lhasa.

According to the Tibetan government-in-exile, 203 people had died since March in widespread unrest in Tibetan areas of China, most of them Tibetans shot by Chinese police.

Lodi Gyari also called for an end to China's "patriotic re-education campaign" which he said was deeply resented by the Tibetans. (dpa)