Japan, China agree to consider second Abe trip-report

TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) Japan and China have agreed to consider a trip to China by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later this year, Kyodo news agency said today -- his second as prime minister following an ice-breaking visit in October.

That visit, made shortly after Abe took office, helped warm bilateral ties strained by his predecessor's visits to a controversial Tokyo war shrine.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shochiro Yachi told reporters that the topic came up during meetings in Beijing with Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

''We discussed that it would be good if that took place,'' Yachi was quoted by Kyodo as saying, without mentioning when the visit might occur.

Yachi was in China for the latest round of strategic dialogue between Tokyo and Beijing that began on Thursday and lasts until Saturday.

''China and Japan have both attached great importance to the dialogue, and the two sides will exchange views on mutual relations and issues both sides are concerned about,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.

Ties between Japan and China have warmed following Abe's October visit. Chinese Foreign Minister Li is expected to visit Japan in mid-February, and Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to visit in April, the first visit by a Chinese leader since 2000.

Bilateral ties became strained after visits by Abe predecessor Junichiro Koizumi to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted war criminals are honoured along with Japan's war dead.

REUTERS MS PM1906