Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the New Komeito party, the smaller of Japan's two ruling parties, in Beijing Thursday afternoon.

"You come to China for the visit at an important time of Sino-Japanese relationship. We hope the tour contribute to maintaining and pushing forward the ties," Yang said, extending welcome for the visit.

Yang said the New Komeito party, which follows a friendly policy towards China, is an important force in Japan and plays a role in improving China-Japan relation.

Yamaguchi said one of the goals of his tour is to "hand a letter of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China."

He also expressed the pleasure to meet Yang again as the two officials firstly met in Japan during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's tour after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Yamaguchi, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, is the first senior member of the Japanese ruling bloc to travel to China since the Japanese government announced in September that it would "purchase" part of the Diaoyu Islands, a move that soured bilateral relations.

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