China has warned it will keep a beady eye on the Abe administration's words and deeds concerning historical issues next year, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

During a meeting in Beijing, Yu Zhengsheng, the No. 4 ranking member of China's Communist Party, told former chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, once a senior member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, that any improvement in bilateral ties hinges largely on the actions of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, a Kono aide said.

"Next year is the 70th anniversary and there will be a series of events in China. Chinese people are closely watching what kind of attitude Japan will take on historical issues," Yu was quoted as telling Kono, who in 1993 issued the landmark state apology acknowledging that females euphemistically called "comfort women" were rounded up to serve as unwilling sex slaves in wartime brothels run by the Imperial Japanese military.