Japan and China made progress during three days of bilateral fisheries talks that ended Sept. 1, Foreign Ministry officials said.

The two sides will make further efforts to reach an agreement by Sept. 4 when Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto visits China, the officials said.

Japan and China are negotiating a provisional agreement by shelving the issue of imposing 200-mile economic zones in disputed areas. The two countries decided to shelve the issue because it relates to the disputed sovereignty of a group of islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China. They are discussing how to jointly control sea boundaries that would be established in the provisional agreement.