Japan and China reaffirmed in a series of high-level talks in Beijing on Wednesday that they will promote "strategic and mutually beneficial" relations, highlighting their regional and global responsibilities amid continuing bilateral tensions.

Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at the outset of the talks in Beijing that the two countries are "partners for cooperation" and that he would like to see ties advance "on the right track."

Iwaya said Japan will make efforts to "reduce challenges and matters of concern while increasing cooperation and collaboration," underscoring the importance of "materializing the capabilities" of the two countries.

Earlier in the day, Iwaya agreed with Chinese Premier Li Qiang to work for a "constructive and stable" relationship, as agreed by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November during their first summit meeting in Peru.

The two leaders also agreed to promote mutually beneficial and stable relations and to arrange reciprocal visits by their foreign ministers "at an appropriate time."

Wednesday's meeting was the first between Wang and Iwaya, who is visiting China for the first time since assuming his post in October. The previous visit to China by a Japanese foreign minister was made by Yoshimasa Hayashi in April 2023.

Later in the day, Iwaya is scheduled to attend the second Japan-China High-Level People-to-People and Cultural Exchange Dialogue, aimed at fostering mutual understanding.

The Japanese and Chinese governments agreed in September that China will gradually relax its blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports imposed after treated radioactive wastewater began to be released into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in August last year.

Bilateral tensions persist, however, including over the intrusion of Chinese vessels into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by Beijing, as well as the detention of Japanese nationals in connection with espionage allegations.