Amidst the ongoing territorial dispute between China and Japan over a piece of an island, a Chinese official on Saturday has urged both countries to push bilateral relations and deepen mutual cooperation.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said China and Japan must work together to push forward bilateral ties on the basis of the four China-Japan political documents and continue to expand mutually beneficial partnership.

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Wang met Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe in Beijing on Saturday even as the territorial dispute between China and Japan is still far from being resolved. Masuzoe is the first Tokyo governor to visit China's capital since 1996, when then Tokyo Governor Yukio Aoshima visited Beijing.

Masuzoe embarked on a three-day official visit to Beijing at the invitation of Wang Anshun, the city mayor.

During the meeting on the last day of Masuzoe's visit in China, Wang urged Japan to properly and carefully deal with issues that he described as sensitive, including those that are historical in nature, and promote steps that will improve bilateral ties.

Aside from the territorial dispute, China also criticized Japanese leaders for visiting a controversial war Yasukuni shrine which honors 2.5 million war dead. China sees Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

For his part, Masuzoe said Japan and China should be able to live in harmony

Japan and China should be able to live in peace and harmony and he is willing to play a role in improving the partnership of the two countries. He said he can help in promoting sister city cooperation between Beijing and Tokyo.

The Tokyo governor earlier said that aside from promoting the partnerships of China and Japan, he also wanted to learn the experiences of Beijing in hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. Tokyo is set to the host the 2020 Summer Olympics.