China, Japan agree to high-level economic dialogue during Xi, Kishida talks

China and Japan have agreed to more high-level economic dialogue at an appropriate time to find a way to solve the issue of the discharge of "contaminated" water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.

The agreement was reached as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, the Chinese state broadcaster reported on Friday.

Local media reported that Xi told Kishida that China and Japan must "follow the trend of the times, focus on common interests, properly handle differences,".

The Chinese leader also said the two nations must "commit themselves to building a Sino-Japanese relationship that meets the requirements of the new era".

"Peaceful coexistence, generational friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation, and common development are the right direction in the fundamental interests of the Chinese and Japanese peoples," Xi said.

Since establishing ties, Xi said that "relations between the two countries, despite the stormy times, have maintained the momentum of development, bringing benefits to the people of the two countries".

They "also play a positive role in promoting peace, development and prosperity in the region", he added.

'Serious concerns'

For his part, Kishida said that he told Xi Jinping he has "serious concerns" about Chinese military activity during their first direct talks in a year and slammed Beijing's ban on its seafood.

Kishida said he "expressed our serious concerns over China's increasing military activity near Japan, including its collaboration with Russia" during their meeting.

"At the same time, I re-emphasised the extreme importance of the Taiwan Strait's peace and stability to the international community including Japan," Kishida told Japanese television channels after the talks in the United States.

"On the East China Sea, I expressed once again our serious concerns and urged the immediate removal of (Chinese) buoys set up in Japan's EEZ," Kishida said, referring to the country's exclusive economic zone.

Military tensions have soared in the Pacific over China's actions in the disputed South China Sea and Beijing's drills around Taiwan, which China regards as its own territory.

Chinese vessels have also increasingly ventured further out into the Pacific.

In September, Tokyo said it had detected six ships — including frigates, destroyers, one fast combat support ship and the Shandong aircraft carrier — sailing some 650 kilometres south of Miyakojima island, east of Taiwan.

It confirmed that jets and helicopters had been detected taking off and landing from the Shandong. China has not commented officially on any drills being conducted in the Western Pacific.

In more conciliatory remarks, Kishida said Japan and China vowed to continue communicating on these and other issues.