Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai expressed regret over a Chinese warplane's recent violation of Japanese airspace in talks with a key Chinese official in Beijing on Wednesday.

Nikai is visiting the Chinese capital as head of a delegation of a nonpartisan Japanese lawmaker group for friendship with China.

The delegation had a meeting with Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, or parliament, and the third-ranking official of the Communist Party of China.