China and Japan will form a consultative body that will hold regular talks from next spring to discuss ways to prevent maritime collisions over the disputed waters of the East China Sea.

Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily on Wednesday reported that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and China’s President Hu Jintao will hold a summit in Beijing in mid-December to discuss the formation of a comprehensive consultative body on the disputed maritime region.

Japan will reportedly send to the regular consultation high-ranking officials from its foreign and defense ministries and Japan Coast Guard.

Beijing and Tokyo have discussed the formation of a consultative body to address the territorial dispute since a collision between a Chinese fishing boat and a Japanese patrol boat in September last year near the islands in the East China Sea.