Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will travel to Beijing from Saturday, the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to China since December 2019, Tokyo announced on Friday. During his two-day trip, the head of Japanese diplomacy must meet with his counterpart Qin Gang.

In recent years, relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been strained, with Japan eyeing China's growing military power in the region with suspicion. Last November, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of a summit in Bangkok and pledged to continue high-level contacts.