China, Japan more upbeat on ties but challenges remain

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (L) shakes hands with China's Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting at Zhongnanhai in Beijing, China, April 30, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Japan both expressed a willingness to improve strained relations on Saturday after a rare meeting between their two foreign ministers in Beijing, though China said Japan should stop pushing the notion that China is a threat.

China, the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, the third-largest, have a difficult political history, with ties strained by the legacy of Japan's World War Two aggression and conflicting claims over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets.