The Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Chinese navy plan to resume mutual visits by their vessels for the first time since 2011, as they step up defense exchanges to prevent inadvertent maritime clashes, Japanese government sources have said.

The restart is set to be agreed when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his three-day trip to Beijing from Thursday, the sources said Sunday, as bilateral tension remains over a group of Chinese-claimed, Japanese-controlled uninhabited islets in the East China Sea.

Japan may invite a Chinese warship to the MSDF's naval review set to be held around next October, one of the Japanese government sources said.