TOKYO, Japan, Apr 16 (AP) -- A senior Chinese diplomat said on Sunday that Premier Wen Jiabao successfully thawed icy ties during his recent visit to Japan, but added a chill remains.

During the trip, Wen struck a conciliatory note on Japanese wartime atrocities, stressed the growing interdependence between Asia's two largest economies, and wooed the public with a series of goodwill stunts.

The premier's visit "marked a big first step toward rebuilding relations of trust," Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi told a television talk show. "But water from thawed ice is still cold. We have to warm it up and make a big, irreversible flow."

Relations between the two countries were seriously damaged under former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001-2006 leadership due to his repeated visits to a Tokyo war shrine that honors Japanese war dead including executed war criminals.

The April 11-13 trip was the first to Japan by a Chinese leader in almost seven years.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a fence-mending trip to China and South Korea immediately after taking office in October in what Wen later called an "ice-breaking trip." Before coming to Japan, Wen said he hoped to make his visit an "ice-thawing trip."

Addressing Japan's parliament on Thursday, Wen urged leaders not to forget the past, but acknowledged Tokyo's postwar apologies and called for forward-looking relations.

"In my view, (the visit) has made a significant effect," Wang said, but added that both sides should continue efforts to resolve the remaining disputes, including one over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea that has made little progress in ongoing talks.

When Abe hosted a cherry blossom viewing party at a Tokyo park on Saturday, he went to the venue without making a secret trip to the Yasukuni war shrine like he reportedly did last year. Abe, a strong supporter of Yasukuni visits, has kept mum on whether he would visit the shrine.