Asian rivals China and Japan yesterday pledged a “new starting point” for bilateral ties, vowing close co-operation amid a flurry of diplomacy on the North Korean missile threat and global trade tensions, reports AFP from Tokyo.

Welcoming Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for a rare three-day visit, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe called for warmer relations between the two countries and said they should work together on North Korea.

Abe said he would be visiting the United States for talks with President Donald Trump to seek the “complete and irreversible denuclearisation” of North Korea and added “we want to co-operate with China.”

“We hope to develop a strategic, mutually beneficial Japan-China relationship in various fields,” said Abe.