The Philippines pledged a warm welcome for China's leader Xi Jinping at an economic summit in Manila next week, officials said Tuesday, despite a bitter row over disputed islands.

President Benigno Aquino and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario made the pledge in rare talks with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is in Manila on a working visit ahead of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

"The president mentioned that he welcomed the decision of President Xi Jinping to attend the APEC summit," Aquino spokesman Herminio Coloma told reporters after Wang's courtesy call.

"He assured the foreign minister that it is in the culture of the Filipinos as hosts to make our guests feel the warmth of Filipino hospitality," Coloma added.

The Chinese minister, who did not speak to the press, visited the Philippines "to ensure that President Xi's visit will be smooth, safe and successful", Filipino foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose told reporters.

"(Wang) expressed hope that contentious issues will not be raised," Jose said, adding that the Filipino side will not be seeking to discuss the South China Sea because of its pending case before the United Nations.

"In the context of APEC we agreed that APEC is an economic forum and it won't be the proper venue to discuss political and security issues," Jose added.

- Maritime dispute off agenda -

The visits by Wang and Xi offers a rare opportunity for top-level talks between the Asian neighbours, which have seen diplomatic relations plummet in recent years over rival claims to parts of the South China Sea.

The Philippines has been angered over what it has branded China's "bullying" and "hypocritical" tactics, including building artificial islands and taking control of a rich fishing shoal in Filipino-claimed waters.

China has in turn been angered over the Philippines' efforts to have a UN tribunal rule on the dispute, as well as by Manila encouraging its defence ally the United States to exert military and political influence.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its Asian neighbours.

Marciano Paynor, head of the hosts' APEC summit organising committee, told reporters Monday the maritime row would be off the summit agenda.

"I will reiterate that when we meet at APEC, it's all economic issues and we do not take up bilateral, specific bilateral issues in APEC," Paynor added.

Discussing the Beijing officials' visits to Manila, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday that China wanted to improve relations with its neighbour.

"We believe that we need to properly deal with our disputes in the South China Sea to ensure that they do not disrupt our relationship with our neighbouring countries."

However, Hong had said Monday that the onus rested on the Philippines to improve ties with Beijing.

His comments came after a landmark summit between Xi and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou at the weekend -- the first such meeting since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

Those talks raised hopes of a further thaw in relations between the two former rivals.

Aquino's only meetings with Chinese leaders included a very brief encounter with Xi on the sidelines of last year's Beijing APEC summit and talks with Hu in Beijing in his 2011 state visit.