CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that there would be no true improvement in bilateral relations without stability in the East China Sea, Japan’s foreign ministry said.

The two leaders held a bilateral meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, on the sidelines of a three-way summit with South Korea.

Abe also urged Li to swiftly remove import restrictions on Japanese food products, the ministry said in a summary of the meeting.

(This story has been refiled to correct typo in dateline)