Chinese president leaves for state visit to Japan

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Japanese government, Chinese President Hu Jintao left here Tuesday morning for a state visit to Japan from May 6 to 10.

During the visit, Hu will meet with Japan's Emperor Akihito and hold talks with Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier.

The president will also have "broad contacts" with leaders of Japan's parliament and political parties and people from all circles to discuss the promotion of China-Japan relations and other issues of common concern.

Prior to his departure, Hu said that the visit was aimed at enhancing mutual trust, friendship and cooperation, making programs for the future, and comprehensively pushing forward bilateral strategic and reciprocal relations.

"Facts have proved that the development of long-term, stable, and good neighborly friendship between China and Japan is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples," Hu told a joint interview on Sunday with journalists from 16 Japanese media institutions stationed in Beijing.

Hu's visit is the first by a Chinese president to Japan over the past decade and is seen as a step to further improve the once-chilly Sino-Japanese relationship, which started to warm with the "ice-breaking" visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to China in October 2006. That event was followed by the "ice-thawing" Japan trip by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April 2007 and Fukuda's "spring-herald" visit to China last December.

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Sunday that his upcoming state visit to Japan will have the atmosphere of a "warm spring".

Hu, who is scheduled to pay the visit from May 6 to 10, made the remarks during an interview with journalists from 16 Japanese media institutions stationed in Beijing. Full story

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Sunday that his upcoming state visit to Japan will have the atmosphere of a "warm spring".

Hu, who is scheduled to pay the visit from May 6 to 10, made the remarks during an interview with journalists from 16 Japanese media institutions stationed in Beijing. Full Story

TOKYO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to pay a state visit to Japan on May 6-10. The visit, the first by a Chinese president to Japan in a decade, is widely seen as a move that will further promote China-Japan relations.

Hu's visit falls on the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, one of the three key political documents serving as the bedrock for developing friendly and cooperative ties between the two nations.Full Story

BEIJING May 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message to Japanese readers via a Japanese-language magazine "People's China" prior to his visit to Japan. Full story

TOKYO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao's forthcoming visit to Japan is set to have far-reaching impact on the Japan-China relationship during a long period in the future, Japanese House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono said Wednesday.

"I am looking forward passionately to the visit," Kono said during a joint interview with Japan-based Chinese correspondents.