BEIJING, April 3: China and Japan tried to start mending diplomatic fences on Saturday but appeared far apart over conflicts stemming from Tokyo's World War Two occupation and the disputed sovereignty of a tiny group of islands.

Trade has flourished between the two Asian giants despite Chinese memories of Japan's wartime brutality, but ties have been strained by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to a Tokyo shrine which honours convicted war criminals.

In a reminder of the perennial risk of flare-ups, Beijing and Tokyo clashed last week over ownership of a cluster of tiny islands in the East China Sea, known as the Diaoyus in China and the Senkakus in Japan, and also claimed by Taiwan.-Reuters