Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is arranging to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Boao, Hainan Province, on the sidelines of a regional forum running from Saturday to Monday, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

It would be the first meeting between Xi and any Japanese leader, former or current, since he succeeded Hu Jintao as president in March.

There is keen interest in how Xi will address relations with Japan, which have soured over possession of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.