A meeting Wednesday between former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing was a positive step for repairing strained bilateral ties, the Abe administration said.
"To have a meeting like that is a good thing," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Thursday, though he also said he had not yet been informed of the details.
"Since May, our ministers — of industry, transport and foreign affairs, as well as recently Deputy Prime Minister (Taro) Aso — have held talks with Chinese officials," Suga said. "The leaders of the world's second- and third-largest economies should meet."