Japan-China in talks to calm row
An envoy for Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has met China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, amid a growing territorial dispute.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the junior party in Japan's ruling coalition, handed Mr Xi a letter from Mr Abe - its content has not been disclosed.
Mr Yamaguchi said the two had agreed it was important to maintain a dialogue.
As head of the New Komeito party, he is the most senior politician to visit China since ties worsened last year.
Both countries claim sovereignty over a chain of islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.
The islands, which are controlled by Japan, lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan.
'Great importance'After his meeting, Mr Yamaguchi told reporters that Japan "wishes to pursue ties with China while looking at the big picture".
He said Mr Xi had told him that although China and Japan have "different positions, it is important to make efforts to resolve the issue through discussion and co-operation".
Japan-China disputed islands
- The archipelago consists of five islands and three reefs
- Japan, China and Taiwan claim them; they are controlled by Japan and form part of Okinawa prefecture
- Japanese businessman Kunioki Kurihara owned three of the islands but sold them to the Japanese state in September
- The islands were also the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010
He said Mr Xi has spoken of "taking serious steps towards having high-level discussions and that the "importance of creating the environment for those talks to take place" had been the focus of their conversation.
Mr Xi, meanwhile, speaking before the talks, said the visit came "at a period in which Sino-Japanese relations face a special situation" and that China attached "great importance" to it.
The dispute over ownership of the islands has been rumbling for years, but it reignited in 2012 when the Japanese government purchased three of the islands from their private Japanese owner.
The move triggered diplomatic protests from Beijing and Taipei, and sparked small public protests in China, impacting on some Japanese businesses operating in the country.
Chinese government ships have since sailed many times through what Japan says are its territorial waters around the islands. Late last year, a Chinese government plane also overflew the islands in what Japan called a violation of its airspace.
In response, Tokyo has moved to increase military spending for the first time in a decade and Mr Abe recently embarked on a diplomatic offensive in South East Asia, where several nations are also embroiled in maritime disputes with China.
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