The Chinese government says President Xi Jinping will travel to South America to attend the APEC and G20 summits.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Xi will travel to Lima in Peru from November 13 to 17 to attend the APEC summit. He will then visit Rio de Janeiro in Brazil from November 17 to 21 to take part in the G20 summit.

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has also expressed his intention to attend the two international conferences. Japan and China are arranging for their leaders to hold a summit meeting. If realized, it will be Ishiba's first meeting with Xi as prime minister.

Issues between the two countries have piled up, including the gradual resuming of imports of Japanese seafood, which China suspended after Japan began releasing treated and diluted water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Other issues include the fatal stabbing of a boy attending a Japanese school in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in September, and China's continuing halt of short-stay visa waivers to Japanese nationals.