BEIJING
After a two-year suspension in high-level ties, China announced Friday its agreement with Japan to resume dialogue.
China's Foreign Ministry said the decision aimed to overcome "political obstacles" while "facing history squarely and looking forward to the future," state news agency Xinhua reported.
There has been no high-level dialogue between Japan and China since September 2012, when the Japanese government purchased three of the disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. The islands, known as the Diaoyu islands by China, are claimed by both countries.
A press release by the ministry said Friday that the two sides would work to prevent further tension on the issue, despite acknowledging their "different positions."
While no date has been set for a meeting, some form of exchange is expected between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing next week.
China’s leaders have refused to meet with Abe one-on-one since his election in late December 2012 as a way of expressing their displeasure with the territorial dispute involving conflicting claims to the islands, among other issues.
Since mid-September, lower-level diplomats and advisors have visited Beijing in the hope of smoothing the way for a substantive summit.
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