Japan and China will hold security talks next week, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said after meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The agreement to hold security talks, the first in four years, came after Hayashi and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi spoke before the conference.

"It is important for us to have frank discussions precisely because there are a number of pressing issues in our relations," Hayashi told reporters, singling out the territorial spat in the East China Sea and an increased Chinese military presence in Japanese waters as some of the issues to be discussed.

The disputed islands in the East China Sea, claimed by both China and Japan, have long been a stumbling block in bilateral relations. China calls the islands Diaoyu, while Japan calls them Senkaku.