Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao met Saturday to discuss their countries' relations, described as the worst in three decades.
With Koizumi smiling and Hu assuming a solemn expression, the two shook hands and exchanged words on the disaster suffered by people in Indonesia as they launched the talks at a hotel in the country's capital in the evening.
''I went to the tsunami-hit Banda Aceh today,'' said Koizumi. ''It was a sight of misery.''
''We also see and feel the damages suffered by the Indonesian people through the earthquake and tsunami,'' Hu replied.
The meeting, announced only Saturday morning, lasted about 50 minutes. The talks were expected to focus on bilateral tensions, which have risen due to a host of issues including recent anti-Japan protests in Chinese cities.
The meeting came a day after Koizumi delivered an apology for Japan's past wrongdoings in a speech at a summit of Asian and African leaders, a rare expression of remorse for the country's militarist past at an international gathering.
''It will benefit both countries as well as the world to overcome disputes and develop friendly relations,'' Koizumi told reporters earlier in the day during his tour in Banda Aceh.
While China has so far signaled it welcomes the Japanese leader's remarks made Friday, whether that will help calm tensions remained to be seen.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan welcomed the Japanese leader's remarks, but added that it was important that his words be backed up with actions.
That could have been an allusion to China's call for a halt to Koizumi's visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors convicted Class-A Japanese war criminals along with Japan's war dead.
In a development that may anger China once again, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Taro Aso visited Yasukuni Shrine on Friday morning. A group of 80 nonpartisan parliamentarians also paid a visit to the shrine separately on the same day.
Beijing's anger at Koizumi's visits to the Tokyo shrine has put a halt to reciprocal visits between Koizumi and Chinese leaders since 2001.
Due to the halt, meetings by the leaders of the two countries have been limited to the sidelines of international conferences.
The last time Koizumi met with a top Chinese leader was in November, with Premier Wen Jiabao in Laos.
Another likely topic during the Koizumi-Hu talks is the recent anti-Japan demonstrations by Chinese protestors accusing Japan of glossing over its wartime atrocities.
The protests, triggered by a series of events including Tokyo's recent approval of a controversial history textbook, have turned violent in some areas, resulting in damage to Japanese diplomatic and commercial property.
Japan has been demanding an apology and compensation for the damage done during the rallies.
Security was tight in Beijing and other Chinese cities, with no signs of protests. It marked the first Saturday since April 2 that has not seen anti-Japan activity in China.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Saturday he hopes the meeting will help improve relations between the two countries.
''I hope that the meeting between the two leaders will help reduce the temperature a little bit and set their relations back on track,'' Annan told a press conference.
Annan said he hoped Koizumi's apology on Friday will help bring about positive results.
The speech ''sets the stage appropriately'' for the summit, Annan said, adding that he hopes it will ''also help facilitate their discussions and their understanding'' of each other.
In the speech on Friday, Koizumi expressed ''deep remorse'' and ''heartfelt apology'' for Japan's wartime wrongdoings.
The wording of the apology was in line with a statement issued in 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. But it was the first time in over a decade that a Japanese premier expressed remorse about Japan's militarist past in an international gathering.