By Xinhua
Beijing : Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda arrived here Thursday afternoon on an official visit to China from Dec 27 to Dec 30 that has been descreibed by Chinese and Japanese media as a trip to warm up ties.
Fukuda will Friday meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chairman of National People’s Congress standing committee Wu Bangguo and hold talks with premier Wen Jiabao.
Before heading to China, the Japanese premier told Xinhua in Tokyo that he was “glad” to visit China and would discuss with Chinese leaders the building of strategic and a mutually beneficial relationship.
“I expect to further promote the development trend of Japan-China ties so that next year the bilateral ties can develop even faster and move into a new stage,” he said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang described Fukuda’s visit as “important”, and added that it would have great significance in improving the Sino-Japanese relations.
A report by the Kyodo News said Fukuda would also touch the topics of resources development in the East China Sea and possible cooperation in environmental issues.
Addressing the East China Sea issue, Qin said China and Japan did have differences, but “China was willing to resolve the issue appropriately as soon as possible, based on the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and the principle of putting aside disputes and seeking joint explorations.”
China hoped the two sides would take a “substantive” step forward in joint resources development in the East China Sea, Qin said.
During Fukuda’s stay, he will also deliver a speech at the prestigious Peking University, visit a primary school in Beijing, and visit Tianjin, a city near Beijing, and Qufu of Shandong Province, the hometown of Confucius.