Japan on Monday moved to tamp down an escalating row with China that has prompted Beijing to urge citizens to halt travel to its East Asian neighbour.

The dispute was triggered by comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier this month.

She said the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.

Despite multiple representations from China, the Japanese side has refused to retract the remarks.

Masaaki Kanai, the Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of Asia and Oceania affairs, arrived in Beijing to meet his counterpart, Liu Jinsong, a video broadcast by the Kyodo news agency showed on Monday.

Kanai is expected to explain that Japan's security policy has not changed and urge China to refrain from actions that damage ties.

"Various channels of communication are open," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a regular press briefing.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing, meanwhile, said Premier Li Qiang has no plans to meet Takaichi on the sidelines of this week's G20 summit in South Africa.

Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news briefing that Japan should retract its "wrongful" remarks.

She said China has repeatedly stated its solemn position on the wrong remarks made by Takaichi regarding Taiwan, saying those remarks seriously violate the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan and fundamentally undermine the political foundation of China-Japan relations.

"Takaichi's dangerous remarks, which have touched the nerves of all parties, were not only strategic recklessness, but also deliberate provocation," a People's Daily editorial on Monday said.

If the row drags on, a drop in Chinese visitors could deliver a significant economic hit for Japan, said Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute.

"A drop in visitor numbers on this scale would have a dampening effect exceeding half of Japan’s annual growth," he said. (Reuters/Xinhua)