Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has strongly urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to act positively on maritime and security issues around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Wang made a courtesy visit on Suga at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday. They talked for about 20 minutes.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is arriving in Japan on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu. He is also expected to meet Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide the following day.

This will be the first time since the launch of Suga's Cabinet that a high-ranking official from China is coming to Japan.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to arrive in Japan on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu. He is also expected to meet Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide the following day.

This will be the first time since the launch of Suga's Cabinet that a high-ranking official from China has come to Japan.

Japan and China have agreed to postpone Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan due to the coronavirus outbreak. Xi's visit had been scheduled for early April.

Japan's foreign minister says China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi will likely visit Japan starting on Friday. Toshimitsu Motegi suggested that Yang will discuss President Xi Jinping's visit to Japan scheduled for April.

Motegi was speaking to his ruling party colleagues on Thursday about his phone talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the previous night.

Japanese travel agencies are busy responding to China's suspension of overseas group tours aimed at containing the spread of the deadly new strain of coronavirus.

Tokyo-based travel agency Kamome Tourist handles package tours for Chinese travelers.

Hotels in Japan are concerned about the possible impact of China's decision to halt overseas group trips beginning Monday in a bid to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

One hotel in central Tokyo usually has about half of its 90 rooms occupied by guests from China.

Japan's defense minister urged Beijing to work toward improving the situation regarding China's increasing maritime activities ahead of President Xi Jinping's planned spring visit to Japan.

Taro Kono made the call Tuesday during a speech at Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.