Senior officials from Japan and China have met to advance discussions on economic matters and other fields. Tokyo aims to deepen bilateral cooperation and resolve various pending issues.

The two countries held a high-level economic dialogue on Saturday in Tokyo. It was the first meeting of its kind in six years, and was attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, as well as senior economic and other officials from both governments.

The two sides agreed to promote government-private sector cooperation in the field of decarbonization. They also reaffirmed their support for people-to-people and other exchanges through the upcoming World Expo in Osaka.

At the same time, Japan asked China again to resume imports of Japanese seafood as soon as possible.

China suspended the imports after the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started discharging treated and diluted water from the plant into the sea in August 2023. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Japan's water release is consistent with international safety standards.

Tokyo also urged Beijing to promptly release Japanese nationals detained by Chinese authorities and to ensure the safety and security of Japanese nationals living in China. Officials said such matters have discouraged Japanese firms from conducting business activities in China.

Earlier in the day, Iwaya and Wang held talks ahead of the economic dialogue.

Iwaya expressed concerns about the situation surrounding Japan's Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, as well as accelerating activities by the Chinese military.

Japan controls the islands. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. China and Taiwan claim them.

After Saturday's meetings, Iwaya told reporters that the talks were fruitful, as both sides had candid discussions not only on cooperation but also about ways to address challenges and pending issues.

Tokyo apparently seeks to continue to extend the scope of cooperation through high-level communication, including summit talks. Japan views constructive and stable relations between the two countries as essential for the peace and prosperity of the region.

Japan also intends to continue exploring opportunities for leaders to visit each other's country.

Also on Saturday, the foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo and agreed to advance future-oriented cooperation, and accelerate arrangements to hold a three-way summit in Japan as soon as possible.

Japan, as this year's chair of trilateral meetings, aims to hold the summit by the end of the year while seeking to stabilize relations with China and monitoring the political situation in South Korea.