It was one of the more eye-catching pre-summit meetings in Osaka... given the countries' grim shared history and their ongoing animosity for each other.
However, the leaders of China and Japan met on Thursday ahead of the G20 Summit,... vowing to improve their relations as "eternal neighbors".
The meeting was also anticipated as Xi Jinping is the first Chinese leader to visit Japan in almost nine years.
Lee Seung-jae has more.
Meeting a day before the curtain comes up on the G20 Summit in Osaka,... visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sat down to discuss improving their long-strained bilateral ties.
According to a statement released by the Japanese Foreign Press Secretary on Thursday,... the two leaders agreed to "have permanent and close communication as eternal neighbors".
China-Japan ties have been uneasy for decades due to a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets,... as well as the bloody legacy of Japan's wartime aggressions.
During the meeting,... Abe asked China to "exercise self-restraint over its activities" around the Japan-held Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea,... and emphasized the importance of demilitarizing the disputed islands, which are called Diaoyu in China.
The two leaders also stressed the importance of promoting free and fair trade,... in the face of an increasingly complicated global economic situation.
Watchers say the U.S.-China trade war is pushing Beijing to improve ties with Tokyo,... which is also facing U.S. pressure on trade,... especially regarding its automobile and farm sectors.
The two countries began their pledge to forge closer ties last October when Abe visited Beijing,... and signed a wide range of agreements,... which included a currency swap pact.
Abe invited Xi for a state visit next spring,... which the Chinese leader accepted.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.