China and Japan hold ice-breaker talks at Apec summit
(35 minutes later)
Leaders from China, Russia, Japan, the US and other Asia-Pacific states are in Beijing for a two-day summit.
The leaders of China and Japan have met for formal talks after more than two years of tense relations, Japanese officials say.
Bilateral meetings between top leaders will take place on Monday, followed by a formal leaders' summit on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Beijing.
There is speculation Chinese leader Xi Jinping could meet his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, for the first time, after months of tension.
The meeting comes with ties at a low ebb over a territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea.
The meeting comes as China looks to underline its growing status as regional leader and economic giant.
Two days ago, the two nations agreed to work towards improving relations.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit is the biggest event hosted so far by Mr Xi, who took over the Chinese presidency in March 2013.
Leaders from the 21 Apec member nations are attending the Beijing talks and trade is one of the top priorities.
The US will be pushing its Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation economic framework along the Pacific Rim which currently excludes China.
It is the economic aspect of America's "Asia rebalance", which some experts say is aimed at countering China's growing influence in the region.
China, however, will be trying to shore up support for its own separate free-trade agreement, the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
'Robust conversation'
Both US President Barack Obama and Russia leader Vladimir Putin will deliver speeches later in the day.
But the two men are not expected to hold talks, amid frosty ties over Russia's support for separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Australian leader Tony Abbott, however, says he is seeking a "robust conversation" with Mr Putin over MH17, the Malaysia Airlines plane brought down by a missile over Ukraine.
Talks would focus on "our absolute expectation that Russia will be as good as its word, that it will fully co-operate with the investigations that are underway and that it will do what it can to ensure that justice is done", Mr Abbott said.
The plane is believed to have been hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels. Russian officials have denied the allegations.
Territorial dispute
Potentially on the agenda is a meeting between the Chinese and Japanese leaders, something that could signal easing tensions.
A territorial dispute in the East China Sea has left ties between the two Asian giants at their lowest ebb in years.
Late last week, however, Beijing said the two sides had agreed to set up a crisis management mechanism to prevent the situation from worsening.
Departing for the summit on Sunday, Mr Abe said final arrangements for the meeting with Mr Xi were still to be made, but said he was committed to improving Sino-Japanese ties.
Ahead of the summit Russia and China signed a major gas deal, pledging greater "mutually fruitful co-operation". Beijing has also pledged $40bn (£25.2bn) to help Asian nations improve trade links.
In other early summit developments, China and South Korea have agreed to sign a free trade deal which will remove or reduce most barriers to trade and investment between the two countries.
