China's Hu to make plans for Japan visit

Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday accepted Japan's invitation to visit next year, as the two countries seek to mend ties hurt by the previous Japanese prime minister's controversial trips to a war shrine.

Hu and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Hanoi, their second meeting since Abe took over as prime minister two months ago.

"The invitation of the Japanese prime minister to make an official visit was accepted by President Hu and he expressed appreciation," Japan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba said. He said the two leaders also agreed to set up a ministerial-level working group to strengthen co-operation in trade, investment, energy, science, technology and the environment.

The Chinese and Japanese leaders also agreed that top level talks should be held on conducting joint exploration for oil and gas in the East China Sea, where the two countries have competing claims.

Six rounds of official-level talks in the past have made little progress on the issue.

Hu would be the first Chinese president and Communist Party leader to visit Japan since his predecessor Jiang Zemin did so eight years ago.

Since taking office in September, Abe has moved quickly to try to improve relations with China, which had deteriorated to their coldest in decades over visits by his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, to the Yasukuni war shrine.