Japan and China are preparing for an official meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping on Oct. 24 in Beijing, sources familiar with bilateral ties said Thursday, Kazinform reports.
Abe is scheduled to make a three-day visit to China from Oct. 23, which falls on the 40th anniversary of the coming into effect of a bilateral peace and friendship treaty, KYODO NEWS reports.
The last Japanese prime minister to travel to China for the primary purpose of holding formal talks with Chinese leaders was Yoshihiko Noda in December 2011. Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has held face-to-face talks with Xi seven times, which all lasted less than an hour and took place on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, including the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, southeastern China, in 2016 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Beijing in 2014.