BEIJING (AP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has held a second meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during the first formal visit to Beijing by a Japanese leader in nearly seven years.

In the Friday morning meeting, Abe expressed hopes for closer ties and a shift in bilateral relations from an age of "competition to cooperation."

Abe is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later Friday, possibly cementing a steady recovery in relations that hit a low in 2012 amid a dispute over East China Sea islands.

A delegation of Japanese business leaders is accompanying Abe as Asia's two largest economies seek to deepen trade, investment and cooperation on infrastructure and other projects in third countries.

China is Japan's largest trading partner and economic ties have remained strong despite political differences.