China and Japan have agreed to set up talks on often contentious security issues. The two countries are seeking to improve a relationship riven in recent years by a range of issues, from territorial disputes to the discharge of water from Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant.

Takeshi Iwaya made his first trip to Beijing since becoming Japan's foreign minister in October. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited Beijing on Wednesday, holding several hours of talks with his counterpart Wang Yi and with China's premier,

Disputes persist between China and Japan with "intrusion of Chinese vessels into Japanese territorial waters around the Tokyo-governed, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, as well as the detention of Japanese nationals over espionage allegations,

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya has met with top Chinese leaders during his visit to Beijing, the first since the heads of the two countries met at a summit in Peru last month