Liang Yunxiang, a professor of Japanese studies at Peking University, said Abe hopes to improve relations with China on a macro level, because worsening ties cause great concern in Japanese society, and extending an olive branch to China gives him the diplomatic initiative.

But Liang said fragile Sino-Japanese relations will not improve if Japan continues to send "dialogue signals"without showing sincerity.

"Tokyo needs to realize that the situation hinges on when it pulls back from its previous false claims,"he said.

Jin Canrong, deputy head of the School of International Studies at China's Renmin University, said the message from Iijima is mainly aimed at helping Abe shake off the pressure to improve ties with China from Japan's economic sector and the United States.

During his troubled 2006-07 term in office, Abe tried to mend ties with China that had become frayed during the five-year stint of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.

Li Wei, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Japan has all the time resorted to empty talk about improving China-Japan relations, but it never engages in substantive actions.

"It is doing so (sending out information about bilateral meetings) to make the Japanese people believe that the Abe government is making efforts to mend the Sino-Japanese relationship."

The earliest date for a meeting between Xi and Abe on the international stage might be the G20 Leaders' Summit in St Petersburg, Russia, on Sept 5-6.But the Chinese official said that based on the status quo, it is unlikely that there will be a China-Japan leaders' summit during this event, and not even at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in Indonesia in October.

Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki arrived in Beijing on Monday for a two-day visit. Japanese media once again played up Saiki's trip. The Kyodo News reported that Saiki will discuss the leaders' summit with Chinese officials during his visit.

The Chinese official said, "Saiki is the newly appointed vice-foreign minister and he is just undertaking a routine visit after taking the job."

Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin will hold talks with Saiki and are expected to raise the Diaoyu Islands issue with him.

Cai Hong in Tokyo and Zhang Yunbi in Beijing contributed to this story.

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