The Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers will hold talks in New York on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, reports said, as the two nations remain embroiled in a bitter territorial row.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, pictured here on September 5, will hold a bilateral meeting in New York late Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba, Jiji Press and Kyodo News agencies reported.

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi are to hold a bilateral meeting in New York late Tuesday, Jiji Press and Kyodo News agencies said, quoting anonymous diplomatic sources.

Relations between the two countries have sunken to new lows as they remain at loggerheads over a group of uninhibited, Tokyo-administered islands in the East China Sea, which is called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The ministerial meeting comes after high-level talks in Beijing on Tuesday, which yielded no sign of reconciliation over the rival claims.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said Tuesday that China "will absolutely not tolerate any unilateral action taken by the Japanese side that infringes on China's territorial sovereignty", according to a ministry statement.

"The Japanese side must abandon any illusion, face up to its erroneous actions and correct them with credible steps," said the statement, released by China after the talks which were attended by Zhang and the Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai.

The long-running dispute has recently flared up, leading to street protests across China.

A number of Japanese companies, including Panasonic and Honda, were forced to temporarily halt production last week, as owners feared for the safety of their staff and property.

Chinese government ships sailed into waters around the disputed islands in recent days, but there was no sign of them in the area early Wednesday, according to Japanese coastguards.

Coastguard vessels and fishing boats from Taiwan, which also claims the islands, entered Japanese waters Tuesday but they were said to be on their way home.