Beijing, March 28 - At the invitation of President of the Republic of Korea Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will pay an official visit to the two countries from April 10 to 13.

 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the announcement Tuesday at a regular press conference.

 

Qin said Wen will visit ROK from April 10 to 11 and Japan from April 11 to 13. The detailed agenda of Wen's two-nation tour is still under consultation.

 

This will be the first visit in seven years paid by Chinese Premier to Japan.

 

China-Japan relations had been frozen for long due to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's continued visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Japanese class-A war criminals in the Second World War were enshrined.

 

China and Japan overcame political obstacles last October when Chinese President Hu Jintao and Abe met in Beijing. The two reached agreements on facilitating healthier development of bilateral relations, which brought bilateral ties back on track for improvement.