Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting at Japan's request today on the sidelines of the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta.

It was only the second time the two leaders have met since November, when Xi and Abe met on the sidelines of the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing. That meeting took place after the two countries reached a four-point agreement to improve bilateral ties

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In today's meeting, Xi stressed the importance of following the spirit of the four political documents reached between them, reports China state news agency Xinhua. This, China said, is to ensure the bilateral relations develop on a right track.

The four documents are a reference to the China-Japan Joint Statement signed in 1972, the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1978, the China-Japan Joint Declaration of 1998, and a joint statement in 2008 on advancing strategic and mutually-beneficial relations.

"The Sino-Japanese relationship is far from good," Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing told The New York Times. "Xi still holds great distrust of Abe, and Abe has distrust of Xi."

Shi  added that the territorial disputes between China and Japan, particularly in the East China Sea, were probably not discussed by the leaders because the gap was too wide.

China continues to send naval patrol boats into Japanese claimed waters, reports The New York Times. Earlier this month, Japan's Defense Ministry reported repeated flights by Chinese aircraft near the islands and also near the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

Xi said China stands ready to enhance dialogues and communication with Japan to build up mutual trust and take steps to make sure that "China and Japan are partners that do not impose a threat to each other," reports Xinhua.

"China will firmly stick to the path of peaceful development."

Abe said Japan will implement the four-point principled agreement reached with China last year, and increase the exchanges and dialogues between the two countries.

TagsChina’s Xi, Japan’s Abe Have Unannounced Meeting in Jakara, Xi Jinping. Shinzo Abe, Asian-African Summit, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC