China is ready to cooperate with Japan in the latter's reconstruction effort in the wake of the March 11 disaster, Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue said.
Hu's statement comes ahead of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's scheduled visit to Tokyo for the weekend trilateral summit with leaders of Japan and South Korea. "China is ready to continue to provide necessary support and cooperate with the Japanese side in post-disaster reconstruction," China Daily quoted Hu as saying. Wen was also expected to hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the report said.
Prior to the start of the summit, all three planned to visit Fukushima City where the March 11 disaster set off one of the world's worst nuclear crises. Among various regional issues, the summit was expected to discuss closer cooperation in disaster preparedness and response, the Voice of America reported. The report said both China and South Korea provided rescue teams and aid to Japan following the disaster, and Japanese Prime Minister Kan is keen to build on that goodwill.
China also wants the resumption of the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's denuclearization. Besides China and the two Koreas, other members in the talks are the United States, Japan and Russia.
