Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, met for the first time in Beijing on Wednesday as the two Asian powerhouses try to mend ties ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

During the hourlong meeting, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of building a “mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests” — phrasing that had been rarely brought up in recent years until then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco in 2023.

Iwaya underscored how both countries must fulfill their responsibilities to ensure peace and prosperity in the region and beyond, stressing that stronger ties were “at the core” of such an effort.