BEIJING — China announced Sunday that it and Vietnam had agreed to hold talks on how to resolve conflicts arising from a sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea, an issue that has escalated tensions between them and led to angry protests by the Vietnamese.

The announcement came after Dai Bingguo, the senior Chinese official in charge of foreign affairs, met with Ho Xuan Son, a Vietnamese vice foreign minister and special envoy, on Saturday in Beijing, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency.

Xinhua said both countries had agreed to “adopt effective measures to jointly safeguard peace and stability of the South China Sea” and to take seriously a multination pact reached in 2002 that was supposed to help resolve territorial disputes. The pact has long been ignored.

The Chinese and Vietnamese navies held joint exercises this month despite the intensifying maritime tensions.