Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that he
warmly welcomes Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's forthcoming visit to Japan, which
is scheduled for April.
Abe made the remarks while meeting with Hidenao Nakagawa,
secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and
Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner
New Komeito.
The two top party officials were to leave later in the day for a
visit to China.
During the meeting, Abe expressed the hope that their trip to China
would help create a sound environment for Premier Wen's visit to
Japan.
Abe also asked them to deliver a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Beijing recently that last
October, China and Japan overcame political obstacles and reached
agreements on facilitating healthier development of bilateral
relations, which brought bilateral ties back on track for
improvement.
Li also expressed full confidence that Premier Wen's visit would
be a success.
(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)