Japan's ruling coalition and China's Communist Party will hold consultative talks in Tokyo in early August to discuss ways to improve ties between the two countries, a Japanese party official said Sunday.

The parties plan to exchange views on how to increase communication and strengthen economic ties at the meeting, the official of the Liberal Democratic Party said. They last held a meeting in December 2015.

The meeting was proposed by the Chinese side when LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai visited Beijing earlier in the month, according to the official. Nikai then met Chinese President Xi Jinping and handed him a personal letter from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The LDP, its junior coalition partner, Komeito, and the Communist Party had agreed to hold a meeting in February, but the plan was postponed at the request of the Chinese side.