China expects continued support for the Olympics from the league and the Japanese people from all walks of life, Hu said.

Kono, for his part, said the league consists of members from all Japanese political parties and is the biggest lawmakers' body in Japan's Diet. The Beijing Olympics is not only an event for China, but for Asia, he added.

He expressed the hope that China and Japan will take the Olympics as a favorable opportunity to further expand bilateral exchanges in culture, sports and personnel.

He also wished the Beijing Olympic Games a great success and promised all-out support for the event.

The lawmakers' league was set up in 2007, 500 days away from the debut of the Beijing Olympics. The league, which had 225 members in the beginning, now has over 300 members.

Leading members are all senior politicians, with Yohei Kono being its chief, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and some other politicians being its deputy chiefs.

President Hu arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday for a state visit, dubbed "warm-spring" trip, the first by a Chinese president to Japan in a decade.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2008)