By BLOOMBERG

TOKYO • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe downplayed the significance of military drills involving a submarine in the South China Sea, saying relations with China are on the right track.

Japan held a submarine exercise in the South China Sea, which also involved five aircraft and three destroyers, on Sept 13, according to a statement from Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force. Kyodo reported that this was the first time a Japanese submarine had taken part.

Asked about the exercise in an interview with broadcaster TV Asahi late on Monday, Abe said it hadn’t been conducted with any specific country in mind. He added that Japan had been carrying out submarine exercises in the South China Sea for the past 15 years, including last year and the year before.

“Regarding relations with China, I recently held a summit with President Xi Jinping in Vladivostok and we agreed to start negotiations about my visit to China,” Abe said. “There’s no doubt that relations between Japan and China are moving up to a new level.”

The drills prompted a relatively mundane response from China, which declares sovereignty over most of the South China Sea and has opposed US military drills in the waters. Beijing has boosted activity in the South China Sea by building bases and deploying missiles, part of a larger push by Xi to assert control over territory that China has long claimed as its own.