Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that he warmly welcomes Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's forthcoming visit to Japan, which is scheduled for April.

Abe made the remarks while meeting with Hidenao Nakagawa, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner New Komeito.

The two top party officials were to leave later in the day for a visit to China.

During the meeting, Abe expressed the hope that 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 Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Beijing recently that last October, China and Japan overcame political obstacles and reached agreements on facilitating healthier development of bilateral relations, which brought bilateral ties back on track for improvement.

Li also expressed full confidence that Premier Wen's visit would be a success.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)