Tokyo, May 7 (IANS): Japan and China have agreed to increase financial cooperation and reopen a bilateral dialogue on economic and policy issues.

The two countries' finance ministers met in Yokohama on Saturday on the sidelines of the 50th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which concludes on Sunday, Efe news reported.

Taro Aso and his Chinese counterpart Xiao Jie, as well as representatives of both countries' central banks, agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual economic, financial and investment interest.

"Both sides recognized the necessity of economic restructuring", according to a joint statement.

Saturday's meeting was the first since 2015, with another planned for 2018.

Japan and China had been holding meetings on the sidelines of the annual ADB gathering since 2006, but they were suspended last year over tensions surrounding disputed islands in the East China Sea.

In 2012, Japan nationalized the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China, leading to widespread protests in China, who a year later introduced new air traffic restrictions over the East China Sea.