China on Tuesday called on Japan to make joint efforts to create an "appropriate atmosphere" for contact and for an exchange of visits between the foreign ministers of the two countries at the appropriate time.

"Seasonable contacts and mutual visits between the two foreign ministers are of great importance to the improvement and development of Sino-Japanese ties," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a routine news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

She called on both sides to make efforts to create an "appropriate atmosphere" for their contacts and mutual visits.

Jiang made the remarks in response to a question concerning whether a bilateral meeting is to be held between the foreign ministers of the two countries during an upcoming ASEAN regional forum (ARF).

The 13th ARF Ministers' meeting, said Jiang, is due to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. China will send a delegation to the meeting.

"China expects to exchange views with relevant parties of the forum on international and regional security situation as well as the blueprint of the forum," the spokeswoman said.

The ARF was established in 1994 as the main forum for multi-lateral security dialogue and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: Xinhua