China is willing to consider allowing the Dalai Lama [Images], the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the country for the first time since 1959 but if he sincerely abandons his pursuit for 'independence', a senior Chinese official has said.

"The fundamental policy of China on the question of Dalai Lama is that we demand he acknowledge that Tibet [Images] and Taiwan are part of China and seriously and sincerely abandon his pursuit of 'Tibet independence'. Then we can discuss  his personal future," Liu Jianchao, spokesman, Chinese foreign ministry.

"The door (for negotiations) remains open," Liu, also the newly appointed director general of the ministry's information department told PTI when asked about reports that the Dalai Lama has expressed a wish to visit China.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said recently that he hoped to travel to China on a pilgrimage and to see the changes in the world's fastest growing nation.

However, Liu's remarks come ahead of a summit in the White House between US President George W Bush [Images] and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on April 20, where the former is expected to press the latter for initiating direct talks with the Dalai Lama.

• Interview/ His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Bush, during his visit to Beijing [Images] in November last year, had urged Hu to invite Dalai Lama to China as well as allow greater religious freedom in the world's most populous nation.

"I thought it would be wise for the Chinese government to invite the Dalai Lama so he can tell them exactly what he told me in the White House the other day - that he has no desire for an independent Tibet," Bush had told reporters after his meeting with Hu, also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China.

Liu's comments come two days after the official media quoted a senior Chinese religious official saying that Beijing can consider a visit by the Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India since 1959.

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly said he wants 'genuine autonomy', not independence, for his Himalayan homeland. But Beijing has expressed suspicion about his motives and anti-China campaigns.

"As long as the Dalai Lama makes clear that he has completely abandoned Tibetan independence, it is not impossible for us to consider his visit," the state-run China Daily had quoted the head of the state administration for religious affairs, Ye Xiaowen as saying on Monday. But Ye said the Dalai Lama 'has failed to deliver a clear message on his stance', adding ,'we can discuss a trip'.

The latest round of talks between the two sides were in China when the Dalai Lama's special envoy, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, led a four-man delegation to the country in mid-February. Though the talks had led to better understanding between the two sides, fundamental differences on the Tibet issue persisted, Gyari said.