China, he added, always attaches great importance to Sino-Japanese relations and stands in favor of resolving the disputes through dialogues and negotiations.

The discussion signaled the first ministerial-level contact between Beijing and Tokyo after the two prime ministers held a brief meeting last week in Brussels on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Toshimi Kitazawa, the Japanese minister, had asked Liang to build a liaison system for maritime contingency.

Kitazawa also urged his Chinese counterpart to also reconsider postponing a Japanese naval training visit to East China's coastal city of Qingdao. The visit was supposed to have taken place on Friday, but Liang didn't give a positive response.

The Japanese news agency Jiji said the two defense chiefs agreed that China and Japan should move forward with their strategic, mutually beneficial relations, and Kitazawa expressed his willingness to visit Beijing sometime this year.

Asked what effect the talks would have on bilateral relations, Liang told reporters "of course it will be positive", adding that the talks went "very well."

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of Japanese studies at the China Foreign Affairs University said the informal nature of the meeting between the two defense chiefs is proof that both countries have the willingness to ease the tensions and enhance cooperation.

"Both the Chinese and Japanese politicians share the strategic view to place the two countries as an important engine of the integration of East Asia. Disputes will do no good for bilateral relations," he said.

Liang on Monday also held one-on-one talks with defense chiefs from Australia, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Laos. He also held a meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

In a joint communique issued by the Chinese and Vietnamese defense ministries after the talks, both sides promised to exchange information and "settle their (various) kinds of disputes in time, in a peaceful way".

The two neighbors have seen heated territorial disputes over some islands in the South China Sea in recent months.