BEIJING, March 17 - As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's scheduled visit to Japan in April approaches, a favorable atmosphere is being created for the visit, the first of its kind in seven years.

 

"China is ready to make joint efforts with Japan to promote healthy and steady development of China-Japan relations," Chinese President Hu Jintao told visiting Hidenao Nakagawa, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner New Komeito on Friday afternoon.

 

Nakagawa and Kazuo Kitagawa arrived here Thursday for a five-day visit to China.

 

Hu said that the two countries should continuously enhance political trust, properly handle sensitive issues and work for a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.

 

Nakagawa told Hu that Japan holds that China, who is seeking to build a harmonious society and become an economic power, is not a threat to Japan, and Japan, who is striving to become a political power, poses no threat to China.

 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Nakagawa and Kazuo Kitagawa before they came to China that he hoped their trip to China would help create a sound environment for Premier Wen's visit to Japan.

 

Abe also asked them to deliver a letter to President Hu.

 

Premier Wen described on Friday at a press conference his planned visit to Japan in April as an "ice-melting journey" for the bilateral relations, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "ice-breaking journey" to China last October

 

Wen said he expected to reach consensus with Prime Minister Abeon the contents of strategic China-Japanese relations of mutual benefit and set up a mechanism to boost bilateral economic cooperation.