Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a bilateral meeting in Indonesia on the sidelines of an Asia-Africa summit on Wednesday, both Chinese and Japanese media reported, in the latest sign that both sides seek to repair bilateral ties.

It was the second bilateral meeting between Xi and Abe since they briefly met in Beijing last November and seen as a step towards thawing tensions over territorial disputes and Japan's wartime past.

Relations between China and Japan have been dicey because of their shared history, but they have deteriorated further in recent years due to a simmering territorial dispute involving a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

According to reports by China's state media, Xi called for Abe to squarely face history during their bilateral meeting, while expressing hope for Japan to pursue the path of "peaceful development."

Abe hoped to improve Japan-Sino relations, saying Tokyo is determined to take the path of peace and development.

Speaking at the summit in Jakarta earlier in the day, Abe expressed "deep remorse" over Japan's World War II atrocities but stopped short of repeating past apologies made by former Japanese leaders.

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Hwang Woo-yea and North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam, are also among those attending the summit in Indonesia.

On the sidelines, Hwang expressed regret to reporters over Abe's failure to offer an apology during the speech.

"It is deeply regrettable because there was no expression of apology in the speech by Prime Minister Abe," Hwang said.

In a separate speech at the summit, the North's ceremonial head of state, Kim, reiterated Pyongyang's long-standing argument that a "hostile policy" by the United States against the North is building up tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea -- which conducted three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 -- has indicated no intention of giving up its nuclear programs as it views them as a deterrent against what it claims is Washington's hostile policy against it. (Yonhap)