China and Japan have agreed to set up talks on often contentious security issues. The two countries are seeking to improve a relationship riven in recent years by a range of issues, from territorial disputes to the discharge of water from Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya has met with top Chinese leaders during his visit to Beijing, the first since the heads of the two countries met at a summit in Peru last month

Talks on seafood trade are expected to be on the agenda on Wednesday when Japan's foreign minister visits China, Japan's largest export market for aquatic products until Beijing placed a blanket ban in protest against Tokyo releasing treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean.

Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya is invited to visit China on December 25. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will hold foreign ministers’ talks and attend the second meeting of High-Level Consultation Mechanism on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Japan.

China and Japan agreed that Beijing’s top diplomat should visit in 2025, adding to the signs the two nations are repairing ties that have been strained in recent years.

Analysts, however, say Beijing’s military aggression will make it difficult for China and Japan to fundamentally reset their relationship

Takeshi Iwaya made his first trip to Beijing since becoming Japan's foreign minister in October. Chinese officials said often difficult bilateral ties were "at a critical period of improvement and development.