Talks between China and Japan's foreign ministers in Beijing have paved way for Japan to host China's foreign affairs chief next year, and mutual agreement to hold a security dialogue as soon as possible,

China and Japan agreed Wednesday to set up talks on often contentious security issues as they seek 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.

Disputes persist between China and Japan with "intrusion of Chinese vessels into Japanese territorial waters around the Tokyo-governed, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, as well as the detention of Japanese nationals over espionage allegations,