Tanigaki was meeting with Jin Renqing during a one-day visit to the Chinese capital, a Japanese embassy spokesman said, amid souring diplomatic relations between the two major trading partners.

The talks are the first since the two ministers agreed in June to set up a new framework for regular meetings between finance ministry officials of the two Asian powerhouses.

"I would like to broadly discuss economic and fiscal situations in Japan and China as well as the Asian and world economies," Tanigaki was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying in Tokyo Friday.

"The issue of the Chinese yuan and structural reforms in Japan's economy and finances may be taken up," he said.

Under pressure from western critics, China revalued the yuan by 2.1 percent against the dollar in July last year, scrapping its 11-year-old peg of about 8.28 yuan to the greenback in favor of a link to a basket of currencies.

Since then, the yuan has further risen almost three percent stronger against the US currency.