A statement issued by Japan and China on improving their strained bilateral ties ahead of this week's landmark summit is "not legally binding," Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday.
The statement was agreed to and issued last Friday, three days before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping's met in Beijing.
"It is a document that is not legally binding. We put into writing what Japan and China agreed on, so it's not an international agreement," Kishida told a session of the Upper House committee on diplomacy and defense.
Still, Kishida said the statement came "as a result of negotiations between Japan and China" and should be "respected."
The statement says that both nations recognize "different views" over the rise of recent tensions in the East China Sea and agree to ease maritime tensions through the launch of a crisis management mechanism.
The statement was issued after Japanese foreign policy adviser Shotaro Yachi met in Beijing with China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, a move widely seen as laying the groundwork for the two leaders to hold the summit last Monday.
Abe and Xi agreed during their first one-on-one talks to repair bilateral ties hurt by disagreements over territory and views on wartime history.
During the Diet session on Thursday, Kishida reiterated Tokyo's official stance that no territorial dispute exists over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Chinese patrol ships and airplanes have been repeatedly spotted around the uninhabited islets, which China calls Diaoyu, prompting calls for steps to avoid any incidents.