TOKYO - JAPAN and China on Friday held talks on a renewed row over gas fields in the East China Sea, a dispute that has long clouded ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

Japan's Vice-Foreign Minster Mitoji Yabunaka and Chinese counterpart Wang Guangya smiled and shook hands as they went into the one-day session in Tokyo.

The two diplomats were to 'discuss a range of key issues including the disputes over development of gas fields', a foreign ministry official in charge of relations with China said.

Japan and China, two of the world's biggest energy importers, struck a deal in June last year to end the long-running spat by jointly developing one of the gas fields.

But Japan recently protested that China was unilaterally developing another gas field. China says the field is in its territorial waters but Japan says the two countries agreed to negotiate its status under last year's deal.

Japan would ask China to stop unilaterally developing fields under discussion and press it to start actual negotiations to draft a treaty based on the agreement in June, according to Japanese officials.

The session is the latest round of so-called 'strategic dialogue' between Japan and China, which have been working to repair ties since 2006 after a long chill.

Other topics expected to come up in Friday's meeting include cooperation on global warming, food safety in China and exchanging opinions on US president-elect Barack Obama, Japanese officials said. -- AFP