Japan Abe regrets China's East China Sea moves, agrees with Xi to boost ties - spokesman

HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday he regrets Chinese movements near disputed territory in the East China Sea, but the two leaders agreed to work to bolster bilateral ties, a senior Japanese official said. The leaders of the world's second- and third-biggest economies agreed to work to improve ties, recently strained by the dispute over small islands in the East China Sea, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told reporters after the Xi-Abe meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit. Abe urged Xi to improve the situation in the East China Sea, where Beijing has repeatedly sent ships near isles held by Japan but claimed by China, Hagiuda said. Abe called the recent moves "regrettable," Hagiuda said. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by William Mallard)