TOKYO: A Japanese man suspected of possessing guns made with a 3-D printer has been arrested, reports said Thursday, in what was said to be the country´s first such detention.

Officers who raided the home of Yoshitomo Imura, a 27-year-old college employee, confiscated five weapons, two of which had the potential to fire lethal bullets, broadcaster NHK said.

They also recovered a 3-D printer from the home in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, but did not find any ammunition for the guns, Jiji Press reported.

It is the first time Japan´s firearm control law has been applied to the possession of guns produced by 3-D printers, Jiji reported.

The police investigation began after the suspect allegedly posted video footage on the Internet showing him shooting the guns, the Mainichi Shimbun said on its website.

Officers suspect that he downloaded blueprints for making the guns with 3-D printers from websites hosted overseas, the newspaper said.

The daily said the suspect largely admitted the allegations, saying: "It is true that I made them, but I did not think it was illegal."

The police refused to confirm the reports, although broadcasters showed footage of Imura being taken in for questioning.

The rapid development of 3-D printing technology, which allows relatively cheap machines to construct complex physical objects by building up layers of polymer, has proved a challenge for legislators around the world.

Weapons assembled from parts produced by the printers are not detectable with regular security equipment, like that found at airports, leading to fears that they may be used in hijackings.

The debate about home-made guns took off last year in the United States when a Texas-based group, Defense Distributed, posted blueprints for a fully functional, 3-D-printed firearm, a single-shot pistol made almost entirely out of hard polymer plastic.

In December the US Congress renewed a ban on guns that contain no metal.

While Japanese police are armed, Japan has very strict firearms control laws and few people possess guns or have ever come into contact with them. (AFP)

BRUSSELS, European and Asian leaders begin three days of talks Monday centred on trade, IMF reform and climate change but under the cloud of a territorial spat between Japan and China.

Leaders will meet at the royal palace in Brussels for the 48-member Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) for two days, followed by separate European Union summits with South Korea and China on Wednesday.

The Japan-China row could steal the show, however, as observers watch whether Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan meet face-to-face to ease tensions over a maritime incident near disputed islands.

The diplomatic standoff was sparked by Japan's arrest on September 8 of a Chinese trawler captain near the islands in the East China Sea.

Japan has released the captain, but tensions remain with Beijing freezing high-level talks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara sought Sunday to put a lid on anti-Beijing sentiment in Japan, insisting the two countries were "good neighbours."

For the EU, the summits are a chance for the 27-nation bloc to tighten its links with Asia and reassert itself as a major world player, analysts say.

"The EU must use the meeting to give a signal that it is not becoming 'irrelevant' on the global stage as some in Asia claim," said Shada Islam, senior programme executive at the European Policy Centre think tank.

The 27-nation EU will sign a major free trade deal with South Korea, hoping it will be the first in a series of similar pacts with Asian countries.

But the meeting with China could prove more contentious following European and US charges that Beijing deliberately keeps its yuan currency undervalued to gain a trade advantage.

The EU is also expected to raise concerns about human rights in China.

In Athens before heading to Brussels, Wen told Greek lawmakers he was committed to improving EU-China relations.

"I am convinced that a strong Europe is irreplaceable," he said. "China wants to promote and strengthen strategic links with the European Union."

Wen, whose country holds the world's biggest foreign exchange reserves, pledged to support the euro and facilitate investments in China, but he also urged Europeans to "limit protectionism."

Economic issues will likely dominate the meeting of ASEM nations, which represent 60 percent of the world population and global trade.

ASEM, which meets every two years, groups the EU, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Mongolia, and new members Australia, New Zealand and Russia.

Reform of the IMF will likely feature high on the agenda after the EU signalled Friday its willingness to cede some power at the international lender to emerging powers, which say Europe is over-represented.

On climate change, ASEM leaders will share the goal "of reaching urgently a fair, effective and comprehensive legally binding outcome," according to a draft statement obtained by a French news agency.

"Deep cuts in global emissions are required" to ensure the increase in global temperature remains below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit), it says.

The ASEM summit coincides with a final preparatory meeting in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin for UN climate talks opening in November in Cancun, Mexico.