The government officially formed on Monday a team of historians that will discuss historical issues between China and Japan with a similar group of Chinese scholars starting Dec. 26.

The head of the Japanese team welcomed Beijing's willingness to examine many periods in the two countries' bilateral relationship, not just Japan's invasion and occupation of China in the '30s and '40s.

"Now (the Chinese side) says they will discuss the premodern period, the modern period and the period after the war, too. It's a very good thing for us," said Shinichi Kitaoka, a professor at University of Tokyo.