Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan held talks here Monday after Kono's earlier arrival on a four-day trip to meet China's top leaders.
Kono and Tang later attended an evening banquet, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.
The trip comes amid a clouding of bilateral ties stemming from the Aug. 15 visit by nine Japanese ministers to Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, and this month's decision by a Liberal Democratic Party panel to delay a 17.2 billion yen loan to Beijing.
The shrine commemorates Japan's war dead, including seven hanged war criminals.
This morning, Kono is scheduled to meet with Zeng Qinghong, head of the Communist Party's Organization Department, followed by afternoon meetings with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Vice Premier Qian Qichen, the ministry said.
Kono is to meet with Premier Zhu Rongji on Wednesday, after his lecture on Japan-China ties in the 21st century at the Central Party School, the main school of the Chinese Communist Party,
During his stay, Kono is expected to discuss the loan, which the Japanese ruling party's foreign affairs panel decided to delay over recent Chinese naval activity in Japan's exclusive economic waters.
"I intend to reiterate a call for restraint and (seek) the exploration of some kind of measure," Kono said last week.
Also upsetting Beijing is Japan's role in recently derailing World Bank funding for a controversial resettlement program in western China's Qinghai Province.
Kono will return to Japan on Thursday.