At Thursday's meeting, the leaders' first since November 2022, Xi called for both sides to focus on common interests while managing differences appropriately, and talked about building a bilateral relationship that "meets the requirements of a new era."
The summit came after a year in which tensions have come to the fore in the Japan-China relationship.
The two sides sought to find common ground in the run-up to the summit, through talks between high-level officials such as Japanese national security adviser Takeo Akiba and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and agreed to focus on the economy.
The leaders affirmed plans to resume a high-level economic dialogue that had been halted since 2019. The framework, launched in 2006 to promote a "mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests," is intended to hash out concrete cooperation.
They also praised an agreement Tuesday to set up a bilateral framework to discuss export controls on goods such as semiconductor materials and critical minerals. Beijing's curbs on graphite, a key material for electric vehicle batteries, could make Japanese companies more reluctant to invest in China, with knock-on effects for its economy.
But the two sides remained deadlocked on thornier problems.
Kishida said he hopes to revitalize economic exchanges "once an environment where legitimate business activity is safeguarded has been ensured," in an veiled reference to worries among Japanese companies about Beijing's detentions of Japanese nationals.
An executive at the Chinese arm of Astellas Pharma was arrested in October on espionage charges. Kishida called for his immediate release, but there was no progress on the issue.
Xi also showed no sign of budging on an export ban on Japanese seafood imposed in response to Japan's release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. He urged Tokyo to deal with the "nuclear-contaminated water." The two sides avoided a head-on clash over the issue by agreeing to refer it to experts to seek a solution.
On the security front, the two sides largely restated their positions on the East China Sea and Taiwan. Kishida reiterated concerns about Chinese activity around the Senkaku Islands, which Japan administers and China claims as the Diaoyu, and demanded Beijing remove a buoy placed near the islands.
The Japanese and Chinese leaders returned to the table after a year amid worries about an economic slowdown, and hopes on the Chinese side of attracting investment. Xi took a conciliatory tone during his four-hour-plus meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday, and a similar dynamic was at play with Japan.
Tokyo has been keen on a summit as well. China is Japan's biggest trading partner, and an escalation of tensions could hurt trade and hamper cross-border travel.
"Given China's different political system, the most important thing is to convey our thinking to the top leader," a Foreign Ministry official said.
Tokyo and Beijing will continue to seek opportunities for dialogue, including a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting with South Korea scheduled for this month as well as a three-way summit that the countries hope to hold soon.
Kishida and Xi are dealing with domestic challenges, with the former's approval rating in a slump and the latter facing economic uncertainty. Although diplomacy is an important factor for both, whether dialogue can bring tangible results that serve both sides' interest remains unclear.
"It's hard to get good results from a summit with China when the administration isn't in a strong position," a senior official from Japan's ruling coalition said.