Japan PM Abe arrives in Beijing for APEC and summit with Xi

英语新闻：

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday arrived in Beijing, where he is expected to hold his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping after presiding over two years of animosity between Asia's biggest economies.

"I want to improve Japan-China relations," Abe told reporters at Tokyo's Haneda airport before flying to the Chinese capital. "For a summit (with Xi), the final arrangements still need to be made. But if it is to take place, I would like to give my message that Japan and China - responsible for the international community's peace and stability - develop their bilateral ties, as well as starting a maritime communication mechanism to avoid accidental collisions."

 

The meeting with Xi would take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Beijing, which culminates in a two-day summit of leaders from 21 member-economies starting on Monday.

Abe heads to Beijing for APEC after Japan and China reached an accord on Friday to tone down tensions over territorial and historical disputes that had fuelled concerns of outright conflict.

Tokyo has long been pressing for a meeting.

Ahead of Abe's departure, the Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers held their first formal talks in more than two years on Saturday on the sidelines of APEC. The talks between Wang Yi and Fumio Kishida were the first at such a level since September 2012.

In the accord between the two announced on Friday, each used only their own name for the islands but said they would set up a "crisis management mechanism" to keep the situation under control. The agreement was widely seen as setting the stage for a summit between Xi and Abe, though no official announcement has yet been made.

preside: vi.担任主席；主持，指挥

Haneda airport: 羽田空港（东京国际空港）

maritime: adj.海的；海运的；海事的；海上的

collision: n.碰撞； 冲突； （意见，看法）的抵触； （政党等的）倾轧

culminate: v.达到顶点

accord: n.协议；条约；（色彩的）协调；和解协议