DANANG — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a “fresh start” to the relationship between the countries after a meeting in Vietnam that saw them agree to work more closely on North Korea.

The leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang.

Ties between China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, have been plagued by a long-running territorial dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islets.

“At the end of the meeting, President Xi said this is a meeting that marks a fresh start of relations between Japan and China. I totally feel the same way,” Mr Abe told reporters.

Mr Abe said he has proposed to visit China at an appropriate time, which would then be followed by a Mr Xi visit to Japan.

China and Japan have also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, Mr Abe added. He also proposed that Japan and China cooperate in doing business in third countries.

At the meeting, the two countries agreed to deepen their cooperation on North Korea and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date.

“With the North Korea situation at an important phase, the role China ought to play is very big,” Mr Abe said.

China has resisted applying greater pressure on North Korea, fearing the risk of its northeastern areas being thrown into chaos if Pyongyang comes closer to the brink of collapse.

At the same time, China has grown frustrated by North Korea’s defiant quest for nuclear weapons, which has prompted United States President Donald Trump’s administration to escalate America’s military engagement in the region.

The meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Abe came mere weeks after the two leaders further consolidated their respective grips on power through key political events at home.

Mr Abe congratulated Mr Xi on being re-elected to lead China’s Communist Party following its twice-a-decade congress late last month.

Mr Abe suggested that the strengthened standing that he and Mr Xi now enjoy could allow them to have more favorable and flexible conditions for Asia’s two biggest economies to quicken the tempo of reconciliation.

It was their sixth meeting since they took power in 2012.

Mr Abe and Mr Xi have never had lengthy discussions in the format of an official visit by either side. All meetings, including the latest one, lasted no more than about 40 minutes and took place on the sidelines of multilateral gatherings.

Mr Abe and Mr Xi last held bilateral talks in July, when they travelled to the German city of Hamburg for the Group of 20 summit.

The lack of in-depth communications between Mr Abe and Mr Xi is a sign of the continued fragility of Sino-Japanese relations. AGENCIES