China conveyed its willingness to advance dialogue with Japan during their leaders' brief chat in Indonesia last month despite a row over the released of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex into the sea, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
"China-Japan relations are important, so we need to promote exchanges," Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when they had a brief conversation in Jakarta on Sept. 6 on the fringes of ASEAN-related summits, according to the sources.
Seeing Li's remarks as a sign of Beijing's willingness to seek a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kishida, Tokyo aims to realize the summit on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's leaders gathering in November in San Francisco, the sources said.