BEIJING — China and Japan agreed Wednesday to set up talks on often contentious security issues as they seek to improve a relationship riven in recent years by a range of issues, from territorial disputes to the discharge of water from Japan's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, on his first trip to China since assuming the post in October, sounded positive after meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, saying the talks were 'very candid' and wide-ranging.