Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will pay an official visit to China from Friday to Sunday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the announcement on Wednesday.

Hua said Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kishida will hold talks and exchange views on bilateral relations, as well as international and regional issues of common concern. Ties between China and Japan have long been strained by territorial disputes, and different view of history. One particular sore point is the visits of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the  Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honored.

Last year, relations saw improvement, but still face challenges. China and Japan have agreed to resume high-level economic talks, but nothing has been scheduled yet.