MH370 Australia has clarified that it is not in discussions with Malaysia and China to stop the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

According to China's Xinhua , Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said an earlier Reuters report claiming the opposite was inaccurate.

"Discussions are NOT under way to call off the search. Discussions are ongoing about the search," said Truss' office in a press release.

"We remain cautiously optimistic about finding the plane... with over 40 percent of the priority search area covered so far.

"If, however, the plane is not found at the completion of the search (expected around May 2015), then discussions will be held between Australia, Malaysia, China and potentially others on the next steps."

Yesterday, Reuters reported Truss stating that Australia "cannot keep searching forever" for MH370 which is believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean within Australian waters.

Four ships are currently contracted by the Australian and Malaysian governments to perform underwater search in a area covering 60,000 square kilometers.

MH370 lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, on March 8 last year.

No trace of the aircraft has ever been found.