(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-06 19:28

Hu was greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai at the airport.

Hu's visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese president in a decade, is seen as a step aimed at further improving the once-chilly Sino-Japanese relationship, which began to thaw 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 last year and Fukuda's "spring-herald" visit to China last December.

In an interview with Japanese journalists on Sunday, the Chinese president said his state visit to Japan will have the atmosphere of a "warm spring" and he wished for a "warm spring for the friendship between the two peoples."

The Sino-Japanese relations are improving further. The leaders of the two countries have maintained frequent contacts, and cooperation in politics, trade, culture and defense has been fruitful.

The two countries have also held close consultations on such global issues as climate change and sustainable development.

The economies of the two countries are deeply intertwined.  China was Japan's top trading partner last year while Japan was China's third largest with two-way trade amounting to 236 billion US dollars. Japan's accumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has reached 60.7 billion dollars, making Japan China's second largest source of foreign investment.

"The improvement and development of the Sino-Japanese relationship is in the fundamental interests of both peoples and also conducive to peace, stability and development in Asia. We are ready to make joint efforts with Japan to further the relationship," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a press conference on April 29.

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