A group of senior Diet members from the ruling and opposition parties arrived Monday in Beijing in the hopes of keeping up momentum for increased exchanges with China.
The three-day trip by the group comes after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping held talks, the second in the last six months, on the sidelines of a regional summit in Jakarta on April 23.
Amid further signs of a tentative thaw between Tokyo and Beijing, Abe and Xi agreed at that time to promote various exchanges despite outstanding political disagreements.
A month ago, lawmakers from China and Japan met for the first time since January 2012 as tensions over the Senkaku Islands and wartime issues have eased somewhat in recent months.
The cross-party delegation headed by Masahiko Komura, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has requested to hold talks with a high-ranking Chinese official.
On Monday evening, the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union was to meet with former State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan.
During their stay through Wednesday, members of the group are scheduled to discuss the Abe administration's security policies with experts from the China Institute for International Strategic Studies, which is affiliated with the People's Liberation Army.
