The Chinese and Japanese prime ministers held an impromptu meeting in a hallway at a conference in Europe, in the highest-level contact between the countries since a bitter territorial dispute erupted a month ago, both governments confirmed Tuesday.
Relations between the Asian neighbors - the world's second- and third-biggest economies - have been strained since a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese patrol vessels in early September near the islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both countries as well as Taiwan.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan met briefly Monday in Brussels, where both were attending the Asia-Europe Meeting and agreed to improve their ties.
"Both parties agreed to strengthen non-governmental exchanges and communications between the governments, and to hold high-level Chinese-Japanese talks at the appropriate time," said a statement posted on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Despite the continuing thaw, both sides remained firm on the territorial dispute: The statement said Wen reiterated that the uninhabited islands - called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan - belong to China, while Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that Kan said they were Japanese territory.
In Tokyo, Kan's office confirmed that the two met for about 25 minutes. Kan was returning to Tokyo on Tuesday after skipping the second day of the summit. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said the two met sitting on chairs in a hallway. The meeting was not on any public schedule.
"Improving relations is good for Asia, for Japan and China, and especially for the global economy," Sengoku told a news conference in Tokyo.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Kan said he and Wen agreed "on the need to return to that starting point and move forward from there," according to public broadcaster NHK.
The collision and Japan's detention of the fishing boat captain plunged relations to their lowest level in five years, although last week ties appeared to be heading back on track.
In Tokyo on Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara reiterated Tokyo's claim of sovereignty over the islands and called on Beijing to meet and discuss ways the countries could avoid similar spats in the future.
"There is no territorial dispute in the East China Sea," he said at a press conference. "But I do understand the importance of Japanese-Chinese relations, and if on both sides we can put our heads together, we can find ways to prevent such unfortunate incidents from happening again in the future.
"Our window for negotiation is always open," Maehara said, pledging to work to restore ties with China.
The crash stirred up nationalism in both countries. Beijing suspended ministerial-level talks with Tokyo and postponed talks on jointly developing undersea gas fields. Japan released the captain, but Beijing shocked Tokyo by demanding an apology.
A thaw began last week when Beijing lifted a de facto export ban on rare earth materials needed in Japan for advanced manufacturing and released three of four Japanese detained for questioning after allegedly entering a restricted military zone in northern China.
Tokyo is pressing China to release the fourth man, who remains under house arrest and is being investigated for illegally videotaping military targets.
The meeting in Brussels may boost bilateral relations before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Yokohama on Nov. 13-14, which Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend.
