Japan, China pledge energy talks

Japan and China have agreed to hold annual ministerial-level talks on energy as they seek to repair relations strained by territorial disputes over oil and gas fields, the International Herald Tribune reported. "Cooperation between Asia's two largest energy consumers will contribute to market stability," the Japanese minister of economy, trade and industry, Akira Amari, said in Beijing after talks with Ma Kai, the minister who oversees the National Development and Reform Commission. The talks came a day after the two countries took part in an energy meeting with ministers from the United States, India, Japan and South Korea. Together, the countries consume nearly half the world's oil. China urged major oil consumers to forge a common energy policy to respond to resurgent producer power and sought to smooth over differences on how best to achieve energy security.