Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed eagerness to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and pitch the creation of a hotline to prevent accidental maritime clashes over the Senkaku Islands, in an interview with The Washington Post.

"If a summit meeting is realized (with Xi), the message I would like to impart is to call for the initiation of the maritime communication mechanism, which would be a communication channel to prevent an accidental clash" in the East China Sea over the disputed Senkakus, Abe was quoted as saying in the interview published online Friday.

The overture comes as the two leaders gear up to meet on the fringes of a two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that begins Monday in Beijing.