Chinese president Xi Jinping has told Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba that he hopes Japan will “properly” handle issues such as history and Taiwan after Tokyo expressed concerns about Beijing’s “increasingly aggressive military manoeuvres”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that a face-to-face meeting he had sought with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump would not go ahead. Ishiba told reporters in Lima, Peru, that Trump's camp explained that meetings with world leaders before the inauguration were restricted under the Logan Act.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to strengthen communication at all levels during their first meeting since the Japanese leader took office in October.

Shigeru Ishiba's scandal-tarnished coalition lost its parliamentary majority in a lower house election late last month.

Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba won a runoff election to stay in power despite his scandal-hit governing coalition’s terrible loss in the parliamentary polls last most. Mr Ishiba secured 221 votes to retain his position in the final round of a lower house ballot, winning the highest number of votes among all candidates.