In a rare high-level meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue conference, scheduled to be held in Qatar on May 23 and 24.

"The two Foreign Ministers will have an in-depth discussions on China-Japan relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news briefing Tuesday.

Liu said the meeting was arranged for Tuesday in Qatar local time but no other details were available.

Leaders of the two countries have suspended exchanges since 2001, after Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro began paying homage at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine that honors convicted Japanese war criminals.

This will be Li's first meeting with Aso, who became Japan's Foreign Minister last October.

The meeting between Li and Aso was first proposed by Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shotaro Yachi at the fifth-round of China-Japan strategic dialogue held earlier this month in China.

"In the past two weeks, the two sides have kept in contact and consulted with one another about the meeting," Liu said.

China and Japan have had a number of frequent wrangles beyond the Japanese leaders' Yasukuni Shrine visits including disputes over the East China Sea gas and oil resources.

Jin Linbo, a professor with the China Institute of International Studies,said both China and Japan hope to improve ties, because they understand how important they are.

"That's why they have finally agreed to hold the meeting despite their great differences," Jin said. "It is a good chance for them to ease tensions."

Spokesman Liu did not disclose the topics Li and Aso will discuss, but he said the Yashukuni Shrine will certainly be one of them.

"The Yasukuni Shrine issue is the main sticking point in China-Japan relations. I'm sure the two Foreign Ministers will talk about it during their meeting, " Liu said.

In March, Chinese President Hu Jintao offered to resume talks with Japanese leaders as soon as they make a clear-cut decision to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine. No positive response, however, has been received from Japan.

Meanwhile, China and Japan are trying to solve disputes over the vast gas and oil resources in the East China Sea.

Last Thursday, China and Japan held their fifth round of talks on the East China Sea issue but failed to make a breakthrough.

China's Foreign Ministry said negotiators reviewed their past talks and agreed the negotiations has been positive even though they remain greatly divided.

The two sides agreed to hold their next round of talks in Beijing as soon as possible, according to China's Foreign Ministry.

Spokesman Liu said China values its relations with Japan and has never stopped trying to improve ties. "China's efforts are well-known to the Japanese side."

"I hope the meeting in Qatar will help improve and develop China-Japan ties," Liu said.

Source: Xinhua