Chinese President Hu Jintao continued his state visit to Japan on Friday, the fourth day of his five-daytrip aimed at boosting strategic and mutually beneficial relations between China and Japan.

In the morning, President Hu met in Tokyo with leading members of a Japanese lawmakers' league established in March 2007 to support the 2008 Beijing Olympics and boost friendly ties between Japan and China. House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono acts as its chairman.

The Chinese president also visited a recycling plant of the JFE steel maker group in Kanagawa in the morning and met local officials.

In the afternoon, Hu is expected to visit a Chinese school in Yokohama before leaving for Osaka, where the president will meet some local officials of the Kansai area, which includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Shiga.

Hu arrived in Tokyo Tuesday for a state visit, the first by a Chinese president in a decade.

On Wednesday, President Hu Jintao held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo and both sides signed a six-point Sino-Japanese joint statement on the promotion of bilateral strategic and mutually beneficial relations in an all-round way.

The statement says the Sino-Japanese relationship is one of the most important bilateral ties for both countries, and China and Japan are countries of great influence and shoulder solemn responsibilities for peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2008)