Beijing -- President Roh Moo-hyun of the Republic of Korea (ROK) will pay a 
working visit to China on October 13 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu 
Jintao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced Wednesday. 
 
 
   
 South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun (L) and his wife Kwon Yang-sook 
 wave the national flag at a ceremony, marking the end of World War Two and 
 Japanese rule 61 years ago, in Seoul August 15, 2006. 
 [Reuters]  | 
This is the second time for Roh to visit China since he took office in 2003. 
Roh paid a state visit to China for the first time in July, 2003, during which 
China and the ROK agreed to build an all-round cooperative partnership. 
China and ROK have maintained smooth cooperation in politics, economy, trade, 
culture, education, science and technology, environment protection and the 
military fields. They have had good coordination in international and regional 
issues, observers said. 
The smooth cooperation between China and the ROK has made important 
contributions to regional peace and development, Chinese President Hu Jintao 
said upon his state visit to the ROK in November 2005, when the ROK recognized 
China's market economy status. 
China is the biggest trading partner of ROK and the No. 1 destination of 
investment made by ROK's entrepreneurs. The ROK is the fourth largest trading 
partner and third largest import source of China. Trade volume between China and 
the ROK exceeded US$100 billion in 2005. 
The two countries set the goal of increasing bilateral trade volume to US$200 
billion by 2012. 
Statistics show that there are over 420 flights flying between China and the 
ROK every week. The ROK has become the biggest tourism source nation for China 
in 2005, and the bilateral tourism cooperation has huge potential, according to 
China's National Tourism Administration. 
Moreover, the two countries closely cooperate in the process of resolving the 
nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, making joint contribution to realizing 
denuclearization of the peninsula. 
Chinese President Hu Jintao said over phone talks with Roh last July that 
China highly values relations with the ROK and will work with the ROK to boost 
the development of China-ROK comprehensive cooperative partnership.
Abe To Visit China 
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also announced Wednesday that Japanese Prime 
Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to China from October 8 to 9. 
 
 
   Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) is escorted by guards 
 as he arrives at the Upper House plenary session at the parliament in 
 Tokyo October 4, 2006. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday 
 that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to 
 China from October 8 to 9. [Reuters] | 
"China and Japan reached a consensus on overcoming the political obstacle to 
the bilateral relationship and promoting the sound development of bilateral 
friendly and cooperative relationship," Liu said. 
"Accordingly, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime 
Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to China from October 8 to 9," 
the spokesman said. 
The Sino-Japanese relations have been soured by former Japanese Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where 
Japan's war dead, including 14 class-A war criminals in WWII, are honored. 
The leaders of the two countries halted exchange of visits since Koizumi paid 
a homage to the war shrine in 2001. 
Chinese President Hu Jintao said last March in a meeting with the heads of 
seven Japan-China friendship organizations that the difficult situation in 
China-Japan relationship was not caused by the Chinese side or the Japanese 
people. 
The sticking point is that the major obstacle in China-Japan relationship was 
Japanese leader's insistence on visiting the shrine, Hu said. 
China always values its relationship with Japan, considering it one of the 
important bilateral relations in the world, he said. The Chinese side has made 
unswerving efforts to improve China-Japan relations. 
The president said the China's stance on its relationship with Japan is 
"clear", "consistent" and "unswerving." 
China will, as it always does, handle China-Japan relationship from a 
strategic and long-term point of view and is committed to China-Japan peaceful 
coexistence, long-term friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and common 
development, he said. 
The Chinese side will abide by the principles set in the three Sino-Japanese 
political documents, continue to "take history as a mirror and look into the 
future," and properly settle the problems between the two sides through equal 
consultations, and maintain China-Japan friendship, said Hu.