TOKYO/BEIJING, April 2 (Reuters) - Japan's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said he called on Beijing for the early release of a detained Japanese national during a meeting with Chinese diplomat Qin Gang held on Sunday. The visit comes a week after a spokesperson of Astellas Pharma Inc (4503.T) said its employee was detained in China for unknown reasons. Although Japan and China have their differences, both agreed to restart trilateral talks with South Korea, Hayashi said, calling the agreement "an important achievement" from his meeting with Qin. "We agreed to continue communicating closely on various levels, including the foreign ministerial and leadership levels," Hayashi added. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last November, marking the first leadership-level talks in almost three years.

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