Premier discusses plan for official Japan visit

Premier Li Keqiang said he is considering attending the China-Japan-Republic of Korea leaders' meeting and paying his first official visit to Japan.

Li made the remarks at a press conference held at the end of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress in Beijing on Tuesday.

Signs of improvement have been witnessed in China-Japan relations lately, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent invitations on several occasions for a visit to Japan, Li said.

Li said he would be ready to actively consider, in the context of the sustained upward momentum in China-Japan relations, attending the China-Japan-ROK leaders’ meeting and paying an official visit to Japan within the first half of this year.

Improvement in China-Japan relations requires not just the right atmosphere but commitment and vision, and exchanging visits at the leadership level will help get the relationship back on its track of steady development, Li said.

More importantly, Li added, we must consolidate the foundation of China-Japan relations rather than just making a one-time deal, and there needs to be sustained, steady development of this relationship.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

The premier said it is important for both countries to honor the spirit and the agreements reached in the four key China-Japan political documents.

The relationship is warming, but we also need to keep watch for any possible return of chilly relations, Li said.

We need to work together for the sustained, steady development of this relationship, he added, and that is what China hopes to see from Japan.