BEIJING ¨C China¡¯s official Xinhua news agency on Monday poured cold water on the idea that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping could have formal talks on the sidelines of next week¡¯s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Expectations have been growing in Japan that the two men would meet for an ice-breaking chat at the gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders.

A meeting of the two leaders would be a symbolic breakthrough in ties between the world¡¯s second- and third-biggest economies, which have turned frigid in the past two years over the Senkaku Islands row, regional rivalry and the bitter legacy of Japan¡¯s wartime occupation of China.

Abe has ¡°spared no efforts¡± in seeking to meet with Xi, Xinhua said in an English-language commentary.

¡°His wish will be fulfilled, since Beijing, the host of this forum, will undoubtedly receive the Japanese leader with etiquette and hospitality, despite chronic territorial rows and a historical feud with Tokyo,¡± it said.

¡°However, that does not necessarily mean Abe¡¯s long-sought formal talks with Xi during APEC would come true, which demands Abe extend good faith and take real action to create the proper atmosphere.¡±

Japan has so far not made such efforts in bilateral ties, which have been constantly troubled by its attempts to wash off its war-time atrocities, Xinhua added.

Xinhua commentaries are not official government pronouncements but can be read as a reflection of official thinking.

The commentary said that though bad ties benefited neither country, Japan had ¡°launched a string of provocations¡± last month, including visits by government ministers to Yasukuni Shrine, which China sees as a symbol of Japan¡¯s past militarism.

Yasukuni honors millions of war dead ¡ª as well as wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal.

¡°In short, it seems nothing more than a mere clumsy political stunt for the island country to advocate dialogue and fence-mending with neighbors on the one hand, while sticking to the bigoted course of fomenting strife and misgivings on the other,¡± Xinhua added.