TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's top government spokesman acknowledged Wednesday that a senior Chinese diplomat made a secret visit earlier this month for informal talks aimed at improving relations between the two countries strained by a territorial row.

"It is true Japan and China have dialogues and communications at various levels," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference when asked about news reports a senior official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department secretly visited Japan in early October for talks with Japanese officials.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, however, denied the recent visit, saying, "I don't think that happened," although diplomats of the two countries maintain communication.

She also said in a daily press briefing that for a meeting of top leaders of the two countries to take place "the key now" is whether Japan can "take concrete actions to create conditions for dialogue and advance bilateral relations."

Japanese news reports Tuesday, quoting sources familiar with the talks, said the two sides remained at odds over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan but claimed by China.

Kyodo News reported that their talks ended without making any headway in improving bilateral relations, with the Chinese official reiterating that Beijing does not accept Japan's position that the islets are an integral part of its territory and no territorial dispute exists.

On Wednesday, Suga declined to say what the two sides discussed at the informal meeting.

China claims the islands, known as Diaoyu in China, have been its inherent territory since ancient times.

Since the Japanese government purchased three of the five uninhabited islands in September last year from their private Japanese owner to put them under state control, China has routinely sent patrol ships into waters near the chain to challenge Japan's control.

Tensions over the islets have prevented the two countries from holding a summit and other forms of high-level political exchange.

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This news was published on October 16, 2013.

Source: http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131016p2g00m0dm079000c.html