China pledged to improve the operating environment for foreign firms, the head of Japan’s biggest business lobby said after a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, a sign of Beijing’s latest effort to lift sentiment.

"It was a meaningful meeting,” Masakazu Tokura, chairman of the Japan business federation known as Keidanren, told reporters in Beijing as a group of about 200 Japanese business executives including himself visited China.

Li talked about the friendship between Japan and China, and said the Ministry of Commerce is leading efforts to improve business conditions, according to Tokura.