Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said they would pursue mutually beneficial relations in their first face-to-face talks in a year, putting emphasis on shared economic interests amid a series of diplomatic disputes.

The leaders of Asia's two largest economies discussed thorny issues such as China's ban on Japanese seafood and the case of a Japanese businessman detained in China on suspicion of espionage during hour-long talks at a hotel in San Francisco on Thursday.

They also pledged to hold high-level dialogue on economic issues and welcomed the launch of a framework to discuss export controls as they met on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Their countries should "focus on common interests" and reaffirm a "strategic relationship of mutual benefit and give it new meaning", Xi told Kishida as they sat opposite one another at a long table flanked by their delegations.

In a joint statement in 2008, Japan and China agreed to pursue a "mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests" designed to ensure frequent leadership exchanges on issues such as security and economic cooperation.

But the phrasing has been used less frequently in recent years as the historic rivals clashed over issues such as territorial claims, trade tensions and Taiwan, the democratic island that Beijing claims as its own.

Most recently, ties have been tested by a Chinese ban on Japan's seafood following its decision in August to begin releasing treated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

In comments to media after the talks, Kishida said he had strongly urged Xi to drop the ban and also sought the swift release of the detained business executive, an issue that has dealt a blow to their trade ties.

Xi said Japan should take its concerns over the Fukushima water discharge seriously and the two sides agreed to try to resolve the issue through consultations, according to summaries of the talks. The Chinese summary did not mention the case of the Astellas Pharma executive formally arrested last month.

Both sides lauded an initiative to hold regular talks on export controls, an effort to avoid tit-for-tat measures as countries around the world look to limit shipments of sensitive material and technologies abroad.

China has recently imposed curbs on the export of chipmaking metals like gallium, and is expected to restrict exports of graphite, used in batteries, in December. Japan has restricted exports of some chipmaking equipment.

The leaders' meeting followed a highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi in which they agreed to open a presidential hotline and resume military-to-military communications, among other matters.

Kishida also met Biden at the summit and they discussed issues including "common challenges" they share on China.

China's push to reaffirm relations with Japan could be partly driven by its close ties with China's arch-rival Washington, said Rumi Aoyama, an expert on Japan-China relations.

"I think there is a desire to drive a wedge between Japan and the United States by establishing a so-called strategic relationship with Japan amid the U.S.-China confrontation," said Aoyama, director of Waseda Institute of Contemporary Chinese Studies.

On the sidelines of the APEC summit, Kishida has also met South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for their seventh meeting this year. They promised to push for deeper cooperation and discussed shared concerns like North Korea's missile tests.

Yoon, Kishida and Biden also held a brief trilateral meeting on Thursday.

Leaders from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum are in San Francisco for its 30th summit from Nov. 15-17.

Japan, China agree on a constructive relationship, but reach only vague promises in seafood dispute.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Friday to build a stable and constructive relationship but achieved only a vague agreement on easing a dispute over a Chinese ban on Japanese seafood, officials said.

Kishida told reporters after a 65-minute meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco that they agreed to “find ways to resolve the dispute through meetings and dialogue in a constructive manner” and would convene a meeting of scientific experts. He gave no details.

Kishida had demanded that China immediately lift its ban on Japanese seafood, in place since the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant began discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the sea on Aug. 24. The ban has badly hurt Japanese exporters of scallops and other seafood.

Japan says the wastewater is much safer than international standards and that the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded the environmental and health impact of its release is negligible. China calls the discharge “nuclear-contaminated water.”

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said China and Japan agreed to find a way to resolve the Fukushima water issue through consultations and negotiations in a constructive manner. Xi, calling the discharge a global health and marine environment issue, told Kishida that Japan should take domestic and international concerns seriously and handle them in a responsible and constructive manner, CCTV said in an online report.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, speaking Friday in Beijing, said all countries have the right to ensure food safety and protect public health.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno praised the talks as “extremely meaningful” because Kishida and Xi “confirmed their mutual goal of building constructive and stable Japan-China relations from a wide perspective.”

But a series of disputes dominated the talks. Kishida asked Xi to remove all marking buoys that Beijing has placed inside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone in the East China Sea, and to quickly release a Japanese businessman who was formally arrested in October on spying allegations.

Kishida said he raised “grave concern” about China’s increased military activity around Japan, including joint exercises with Russia. He stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, where China regularly dispatches military ships and planes to threaten Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

Kishida also held talks on the sidelines of APEC with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and briefly met with Biden and discussed the Middle East, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, China and North Korea, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. The three leaders also held a separate meeting together.

Yoon’s office said the three leaders talked for about 10 minutes about security and economic cooperation. Biden expressed gratitude to Yoon and Kishida for “easing his burden as he performs his duties as the president of the United States," Yoon’s deputy national security director, Kim Tae-hyo, told South Korean reporters.

Japan and South Korea, which share security concerns in the Indo-Pacific, have rapidly repaired and strengthened their ties that had long been strained over historical issues involving Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, thereby bolstering three-way security ties with the United States.

In their meeting, Kishida and Yoon expressed satisfaction over the “positive trends in bilateral relations” and the expansion of government consultations on diplomacy, security and economy, Yoon's office said.