TOKYO — Japan and China held the fourth round of talks in Tokyo on maritime crisis management mechanism on Jan 12, with both countries agreeing to launch it as soon as possible once a broad agreement is reached.

The working-level talks, participated by officials from Japan’s Defense Ministry and the Maritime Self-Defense Force and China’ s Defense Ministry, first reaffirmed basic agreements they have made so far.

The two sides also discussed some specifics of the mechanism, including technical problems, and agreed to trigger it as soon as possible after some necessary adjustments based on the talks on Jan 12, Chinese officials said.

The mechanism of high-level consultations on maritime affairs between the two countries was launched in 2012. After three rounds of successful talks, the talks were suspended after the Japanese government’s so-called”nationalization”of China’s Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea in September 2012.