Japan, China agree to promote dialogue despite UNESCO dispute

China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi (L) shakes hands with Japan's National Security Council head Shotaro Yachi, a close ally of the Japanese Prime Minister, at the start of their talks in Tokyo October 13, 2015. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Senior officials of Japan and China agreed on Tuesday to pursue high-level dialogue to mend frayed relations, a Japanese government official said.

Sino-Japanese ties, long plagued by conflicting claims to an East China Sea group of islands and by the legacy of Japan's World War Two aggression against China, have thawed somewhat since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2014.