Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
Li arrived in Tokyo on Thursday for talks aimed at smoothing the way for an April visit by Premier Wen Jiabao (
That visit, during which Wen may address parliament, would symbolize a thaw that began when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took part in an ice-breaking summit in Beijing in October.
Speaking to a gathering of Japan-China friendship groups, Li said: "We are facing a great opportunity to further develop our friendly relations."
Li also praised Japan's role in the six-party nuclear talks, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, the US and Russia. The latest round of the talks, which recently ended in Beijing, led to a breakthrough agreement on North Korea's nuclear program.
"We salute the important progress in the talks to which the Japanese delegation made a significant contribution," Li said.
The two Asian giants appear keen to improve relations after the chill that developed under former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, who made annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine, seen by Beijing as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
Once known for his tough talk towards China, Abe has worked since taking office in September to repair relations, partly by declining to say if he would visit Yasukuni as prime minister.
Before taking office, Abe visited the shrine, which honors Japanese World War II leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal after Japan's defeat.
History, however, is likely to haunt ties, especially in a year marking sensitive anniversaries of wartime events including the July 7, 1937, skirmish at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing that became a spark for an all-out Sino-Japanese War.
This year also marks the 70th anniversary of Japanese soldiers' 1937 slaughter of Chinese civilians and prisoners of war in Nanjing. China has put the Nanjing death toll at 300,000.
An Allied tribunal after World War Two estimated that around 142,000 were killed.
Li was to meet with Japanese counterpart Taro Aso yesterday to discuss bilateral relations and international issues, and was also expected to pay a courtesy call on Abe, the Foreign Ministry said.
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