Chinese Foreign Minister Calls On Japan To Make Necessary Preparations For Xi's Visit

Chinese Foreign Minister Calls on Japan to Make Necessary Preparations for Xi's Visit

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has asked Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba to make the necessary arrangements for President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Japan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2020) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has asked Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba to make the necessary arrangements for President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Japan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Japanese diplomat arrived in China on Wednesday to participate in the 15th session of the China-Japan strategic dialogue aimed at improving bilateral relations.

"Wang Yi said that in the new situation, China-Japan relations are facing an important opportunity for development. If President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan this spring goes smoothly, it will be a milestone in future Chinese-Japanese relations. We hope that the two sides will effectively make all preparations, create favorable conditions and atmosphere and bring China-Japan relations to a new level through this visit," the ministry said.

Akiba assured Wang that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also attached great importance to the state visit, the Chinese ministry added.

The diplomats' meeting took place in light of growing expectations over a new political document that China and Japan are set to develop. The document will be the fifth key agreement laying the basis for the countries' future relations since Tokyo and Beijing established diplomatic ties in 1972.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, citing sources close to the matter, that the document was expected to be unveiled during Xi's visit to Japan, his first since taking office in 2013.