Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to China from October 25 to 27, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang invited Abe to China to mark the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the two nations, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.
“Japan is an important neighbour of China. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the momentum of improvement in Sino-Japanese relations has continued to increase,” Lu told a press briefing in Beijing.
China hopes that Abe’s visit will enhance political trust between the two countries and deepen cooperation based on the return to normal bilateral relations, the spokesperson added.
Abe’s visit is a rare one and signals an improvement in ties between China and Japan.
Abe will become the first Japanese prime minister to visit China since 2011. Meanwhile, no Chinese president has visited Japan since 2010.
The two countries’ relations worsened in 2012 due to territorial disputes over islands in the East China Sea.