Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in New York, the United States, Sept. 21, 2009.

Chinese President Hu Jintao met Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in New York on Monday on China-Japan ties and other issues of common concern.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders since Hatoyama was elected Japan's new prime minister on Sept. 16.

The two leaders are meeting on the sidelines of a series of UN meetings.

In a congratulatory message to Hatoyama last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said: "As each other's important neighbor, efforts to deepen the mutual trust and cooperation between China and Japan are in keeping with the fundamental interests of both nations and their peoples."

Wen expressed the hope that Japan and China could work together to push for fresh developments in their Strategic Relations of Mutual Benefit starting from a new historic threshold.