China and Japan will hold a meeting to discuss measures to prevent clashes in waters near a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea. Director-level officials from the two countries’ defense ministries will participate in the meeting scheduled for late this month at the earliest.

Japanese daily, the Asahi Shimbun reported that in the meeting, Japan and China will discuss the resumption of talks on establishing a maritime communication system to prevent accidental clashes in the waters.

The maritime communication system includes direct military communication lines and hotlines. The talks on the maritime communication system were brought to a halt after Tokyo purchased and nationalized the islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.