BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Top officials from Japan's ruling parties said here Sunday that Japan will make utmost efforts for the success of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Japan.

"Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Japanese government warmly welcome Wen's visit. We hope to thaw the drift ice in our relations through exchange of visits between the state leader of two countries," said Hidenao Nakagawa, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Japan expects the two countries can achieve progress on the issue of oil and gas joint exploitation in the East China Sea in this visit, he said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

A delegation from the Japanese ruling parties, headed by Nakagawa and Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner New Komeito, arrived here Thursday evening for a five-day visit to China.

Before their departure to Beijing, Abe met with Nakagawa and Kitagawa and told them to create a favorable atmosphere for Wen's visit scheduled for April.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations and is also the Year of Cultural and Sports Exchanges between them.

Speaking to Xinhua, Nakagawa and Kitagawa said increasing mutual understanding between Japanese and Chinese people, particularly between the young people, is an important basis for sound development of bilateral relations.

Nakagawa said he will personally head a large delegation to visit China this year to enhance people-to-people exchanges.

Kitagawa also said that Japan will simplify its visa application procedure so as to facilitate Chinese tourists to travel to Japan.

There were 810,000 Chinese tourists coming to Japan in 2006 and the number is expected to exceed one million this year.

When talking about bilateral trade and economic cooperation, Nakagawa said the continuous growth of Chinese economy is conducive to the restoration of Japanese economy.

"There is no doubt that the bilateral economic and trade relations will further deepen," Kitagawa said.

China-Japan relations soured when former Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi paid successive visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where14 Japanese class-A war criminals in the second World War were enshrined.

The two countries overcame political obstacles last October when Japanese new leader Abe paid an ice-breaking visit to Beijing.

"Abe's efforts to improve bilateral ties is for the interests of Japan and its people," Nakagawa said.

Japan's position in pushing forward strategic and mutually beneficial relations will not change, he added.

Japan and China should foster closer strategic cooperation so as to remove "drift ice" between the two countries, said Nakagawa, who compared earlier the disputes between Japan and China to drift ice.

The two countries can also step up cooperation in various fields such as energy and environmental protection, Kitagawa said.