BEIJING: Philippine President Benigno Aquino said he and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had a “meeting of minds” on Tuesday during talks, which included a territorial row that has soured relations between the South China Sea states.

The Philippines is in dispute with China over parts of the sea including the Scarborough Shoal, an area believed to be rich in oil and natural gas as well as fisheries resources. China seized control of the shoal in June 2012 and has prevented Philippine fishermen from getting close to the rocky outcrop, a rich fishing ground.

“The warmth was there ... there was sincerity,” Aquino told a select group of Filipino journalists in Beijing. Aquino attended a tree-planting ceremony on the outskirts of Beijing, and had informal talks with Xi for about 10 minutes afterwards.

“There was factual layout of the ... issues, where we were, where we are and where we will be. (On) most of the general points, we had a meeting of the minds,” Aquino said.

“South China Sea was mentioned in passing ... There was mention of finding constructive ways to solve this,” he added.

The talks were held on China’s initiative, a senior diplomat told Reuters, requesting anonymity. Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying he hoped the two sides would “move in the same direction and constructively deal with it.”

In a symbolic gesture of goodwill, Aquino was in the first row when APEC’s 21 leaders posed for photographers and television crews at the Water Cube, the swimming venue during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, on Monday.