OSAKA, Japan, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday that the Chinese government will continue to support a closer relationship with West Japan, the second largest economic circle in Japan.

West Japan, or the Kansai region, plays an important role in the Sino-Japanese economic relationship, Wen said at the meeting with Osaka Governor Fusae Ohta along with regional political and business dignitaries.

Recalling the long history of exchanges between China and the Kansai region, the premier said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to and will continue to encourage forging closer relations with the region.

Wen also hopes that Kansai governments and business people would also exert their own efforts to push that cooperation to a new high.

Ohta said that the cooperation with China is vital for the Kansai's development in the future.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai will provide opportunities for Kansai to further the relations with China, Ohta said.