Xi to meet Kishida during APEC meeting

President Xi Jinping will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the 29th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning announced on Wednesday.

"It is the first official meeting between the two leaders," Mao said at a regular news briefing.

The two sides will exchange views on China-Japan relations as well as regional and international issues of shared concern, she added.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

Noting the two countries are close neighbors and major countries in the region, Mao said China and Japan should conform to the overriding trend, stick to peace and friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and properly manage differences to jointly build a China-Japan relationship that answers the needs of the new era.