Tokyo,

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during his upcoming visit to China next month, Japanese government sources said Saturday.

Abe is slated to attend a three-way summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in late December.

The Japanese leader is expected to first visit Beijing and travel to the inland Chinese city. His China trip is being arranged mainly for December 23-25.

Abe appears eager to drastically improve Japan-China ties, with Xi set to visit Japan as a state guest next spring.

The prime minister last visited China in October 2018, while his last talks with Xi took place in June this year, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in the western Japan city of Osaka.

At the possible meeting with Xi next month, Abe is expected to mention a series of cases in which Japanese citizens were detained in China, including on spying charges.

Another focus of Abe's upcoming China visit is whether he and South Korea's Moon will hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the three-way summit, with the aim of breaking the ice between their countries.

Jiji Press