A delegation of senior Chinese legislators left Beijing on Thursday for Tokyo in a visit that is believed to pave the way for Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Japan in April.

The delegation, led by China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee vice-chairman Lu Yongxiang, will inaugurate a regular exchange mechanism between the NPC and the Japanese House of Councilors.

The Chinese legislators will hold their first meeting with members of the House of Councilors, during which they will conduct three rounds of talks on political security, bilateral trade, energy and environmental protection.

Lu is chairman of the Chinese delegation, while Matsuda Iwao will head the Japanese side. The other ten Chinese members are from eight committees under the NPC, covering areas including foreign affairs, agriculture, finance and legislation .

Lu will meet with Japanese officials, including President of the House of Councilors Ogi Chikage and Speaker of the House of Representatives Kono Yohei, as well as Foreign Minister Taro Aso and leaders of political parties.

The NPC delegation will also visit Nagasaki.

"The two sides will have candid talks and exchanges of views, so as to enhance mutual trust. The visit should create favorable conditions for Premier Wen's April visit," said an unnamed senior official from the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee.

At a press conference after the closing of the NPC annual session, the premier described his visit to Japan as an "ice-melting journey".

Wen said he hoped the two countries could build a friendly relationship of stable and healthy cooperation.

Prior to that, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China in October 2006 was seen as an "ice-breaking journey", which broke the deadlock of Sino-Japanese relations.

To prepare for Wen's visit, both countries have conducted close contacts to warm up the atmosphere.

Hidenao Nakagawa, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner New Komeito, concluded their five-day visit to China on March 19.

"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 exchanges of visits between the leaders of our two countries," Nakagawa said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing visited Tokyo in February and met with several Japanese senior officials.

The seventh China-Japan strategic dialogue was held in January in Beijing to promote the bilateral relations of strategic reciprocity.

The two countries are also conducting people-to-people exchanges. 250 Chinese high school students have just paid a visit to Japan.

Analysts said the legislators could have candid and pragmatic discussions. Their exchanges would be a helpful supplement to government and party-to-party exchanges, and promote the development of bilateral relations.