The Yomiuri ShimbunBEIJING — Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing on Saturday as part of his three-day official visit to China aimed at improving ties with that country.

“We confirmed the importance of the Japan-China relationship through the series of talks with Minister Wang Yi [and other senior officials], and we agreed to make our efforts for further improvement,” Kishida told reporters after the meeting.

Kishida’s visit to China is the first by a Japanese foreign minister in 4½ years for an event other than an international conference. The previous dialogue between the two ministers was held in November last year in Seoul, and no talks between them took place in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test in January.

During the talks, Kishida raised the issue of China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea and its plan to use them for military purposes, which led the two ministers to exchange “candid views,” Kishida said. The two ministers agreed to coordinated measures for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Kishida called on China to ease tensions between the countries, saying, “It is undesirable that the foreign ministers of Japan and China did not meet with each other over such a long period of time.”

He said that though problems will never cease to arise between the two nations owing to their proximity, candid dialogue in areas where opinions differ is necessary to properly handle them.

Kishida has said his main goal for this visit is to “get the wheel turning on the formation of Japan-China relations suitable to the new era,” since the relationship, which has stagnated of late, has been showing some signs of improvement. Kishida is hoping to resume reciprocal visits between the two countries’ leaders, and is believed to have requested a visit by Wang to Japan.

In his opening remarks, Wang said that Japan-China relations have gone through twists and turns in recent years for reasons best understood by Japan, a remark aimed at restraining Japan’s statements over the issue of the South China Sea.

Wang added that the relationship between China and Japan must be based on respect for history, commitment and cooperation rather than confrontation. Wang said he was willing to listen to Kishida’s opinion about how to improve bilateral relations, and that it was equally important whether Japan would turn its words into actions.

China has expressed concern over North Korea’s military provocations, including its ballistic missile launches. The two ministers noted their serious concern over the provocations and confirmed that the two countries would closely cooperate to enforce the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions resolution on North Korea.

It is believed that they also discussed the trilateral summit meeting among Japan, China and South Korea expected to be held in the latter half of this year.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry on Saturday announced that it would relax visa requirements for Chinese tourists. Kishida explained to Wang the details of the change in requirements.

Following the meeting with Wang, Kishida held separate talks on Saturday with State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Premier Li Keqiang.

Speech