TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested Tuesday that a summit between Japan and China is necessary to mend bilateral relations scratched by territorial dispute, local media reported.

It might be "a need to re-establish the relationship, starting with a summit," Abe said in a TV program and was quoted by Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

He also said the two countries need to rebuild the bilateral strategic and mutually beneficial partnership and to hold a summit or high-level talks due to the problems the two countries are facing, according to the report.

But the prime minister reiterated that the territorial issue is non-negotiable, said the report.

Abe's comments came after a visit to China made by Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the New Komeito Party which formed the coalition government with Abe's Liberal Democratic Party.

Yamaguchi met with Abe on Saturday and briefed the outcome of his visit to China, which the prime minister called as "important".

Relations between China and Japan have soured since the Japanese government unilaterally "nationalized" China's Diaoyu Islands last September, despite China's strong opposition.