Moves towards summit with Japan
1 June 2003
The secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic party, Taku Yamasaki, led a ruling coalition delegation visit to China in May. They discussed forthcoming meetings between China's president Hu Jintao and Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The delegation delivered a message from Koizumi, saying that he looked forward to these first meetings. Beijing has indicated that it wants to improve relations with Japan and a recent article circulated among the leadership has urged that China should not let the past stand in the way of better relations with Japan.
In May, Japan said it would give China US$13m in emergency aid to combat Sars.