Japan has proposed to China and South Korea that a trilateral summit be held in Tokyo in early April, but Beijing is withholding its response, diplomatic sources said, reported Kyodo News news agency of Japan.

Seoul, however, said it will try to make the necessary arrangements.

The trilateral summit was last held in November 2015 in South Korea. Japan is scheduled to host the next one, but it has been repeatedly postponed by territorial and historical disputes.

These trilateral high-level talks are conducted since 2008.