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BEIJING-China and Japan Agreed on Asia, part of a rapprochement during the first formal visit by the Japanese leader to China in seven years.
Companies and official bodies of the two nations signed more than 50 agreements to cooperate on projects in third countries. That was a key ask by Beijing, which is looking for partners for an international infrastructure-building initiative.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Mr. Abe said that he would be scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping later Friday.
Ties have warmed up between Asia's two largest economies, which have been broken down by analysts say, by China's need for friends in the region while it battles President Trump over trade issues. China is its biggest export market and a source of tourists.
Mr. Li made a nod to Japan's concern over China's bid for dominance in next-generation technologies, saying Beijing would "firmly protect" intellectual-property rights and work with Tokyo to promote global free trade. Neither leader directly mentioned President Trump or U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo chilled in 2012 over a territorial dispute involving islands in the East China Sea, which Japan controls and China claims. While the dispute remains unresolved, both countries have sought to prevent inflammatory statements recently.
When Japan disclosed in South China Sea in September, where China has asserted broad territorial claims, Beijing issued a mild statement in response.
Mr. Abe was greeted at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Friday by a Liberation Army band playing the Japanese national anthem, which calls for the everlasting reign of the emperor, under whose name Japan occupied China before and during World War II.
It was the first visit by Mr. Abe since he took office in China, he has visited China for international gatherings. The last Japanese prime minister to make a visit to Beijing was Yoshihiko Noda in 2011.
The Agreements on Developing Asian Infrastructure and the Initiative of President Xi, which calls for infrastructure investments through Eurasia, said Mr. Abe did not characterize them that way.
Without mentioning the Belt and Road program, Mr. Abe reiterated Japanese concerns, saying that it should be transparent and should not force those nations.
