The prime ministers of Japan and China met yesterday for the first time since a feud over a collision near disputed islands in the East China Sea last month soured ties.
Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao agreed to start high-level talks to repair relations.
"We both said the current situation is not desirable, and we confirmed a return to the starting point of improving our strategic mutually beneficial relations," Mr Kan told reporters in Brussels after meeting Mr Wen on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit.
"We agreed to hold individual high-level talks on a suitable basis," Mr Kan said, adding that he saw the disputed islands as Japanese territory.
Mr Kan, under heavy domestic fire for appearing to cave into Chinese demands in the row, did not say who would take part in the talks or when they would be held.
The two leaders met for 25 minutes after a working dinner at the summit in Brussels, their first face-to-face contact since the captain of a Chinese trawler was detained after the incident near disputed islands in the East China Sea. The meeting was not announced in advance.
Reuters