BEIJING: China would not budge from its stance on blocking India's entry into the powerful Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in the present circumstances because India has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT), Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's four-day China tour which began on Tuesday.

"China along with other counties has been maintaining that there should be a thorough discussion on whether non-NPT countries can join the NSG, and this decision should be made on consensus. This applies to all non-NPT countries including Pakistan," Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman of the ministry said at the media briefing.

Mukherjee arrived in the southern city of Guanzhou on Tuesday evening, and will reach Beijing late on Wednesday afternoon. He will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders before leaving Beijing on Thursday.

India recently said there was no binding rule that NSG membership is open only to signitories of NPT. It pointed out that France had become a member of the NSG without signing NPT at that time.

Countering the Indian argument, Hua said, "France was a founder of the NSG so the issue of its acceptance to the NSG did not exist."

Welcoming Mukherjee, Hua said, "We hope we can use the President's visit this time to depeen our practical cooperation and forge even closer partnership for devleopment."

The spokesperson said China  will work with India to speed up negotiations on the boundary question.

"China is willing to continue working with India to accelerate the negotiation and solve the issue at an early date," said Hua.