TOKYO (Kyodo) -- China has removed a buoy it had installed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone off a remote southwestern island, the Japan Coast Guard said Wednesday, meaning all such objects that had irked Tokyo have been cleared from its EEZ.

The Japanese government said in December that it spotted a new buoy south of Yonaguni Island, which is located about 100 kilometers from Taiwan. But on its website on Wednesday, the coast guard referred to the buoy east of Taiwan as "nonexistent."

According to a Japanese government source, Chinese ships began work to remove the buoy on Tuesday and it was no longer there on Wednesday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference on Thursday that a relevant organization is carrying out "maintenance work."

In an apparent gesture to improve strained ties with the neighboring country, China said in February it had moved a buoy placed inside Japan's EEZ near the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The Japanese government has repeatedly called for the removal of the buoys.

The EEZ extends some 370 kilometers from Japanese shores.