China hailed a visit by new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday as a "turning point" in relations as they agreed to upgrade ties and denounced North Korea's plans for a nuclear test as unacceptable.
Beijing had refused summits with Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who stepped down last month, because of his repeated pilgrimages to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine to war dead, seen by critics as glorifying Japan's past militarism.
But Chinese leaders struck a conciliatory tone and Abe expressed "deep remorse" for past Japanese actions as he broke with tradition in making his first trip abroad since taking office on September 26 to China, rather than the United States.
"Your visit is serving as a turning point in China-Japan relations and I hope it will also serve as a new starting point for the improvement and development of bilateral ties," China's Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese President Hu Jintao as telling Abe.
Chinese leaders agreed in principle to an invitation from Abe to visit Japan, China's foreign ministry said. State television also quoted Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as saying China and Japan should keep up mutual visits by state leaders, suspended since 2001.
Mending ties is key to addressing last week's threat by reclusive North Korea to conduct a nuclear test, an issue high on the agenda during Abe's two-day visit to Beijing, host to stalled six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Abe said the possibility that North Korea would make good on its threat could not be ruled out, adding that if it did so the United Nations would discuss invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which could lay the groundwork for military force.
"Japan and China shared the view that North Korea's nuclear test is unacceptable. And this is a strong message to North Korea," Abe told reporters.
A joint statement said the two sides "expressed deep concern" over the threatened nuclear test.
In Seoul, a senior Japanese official said: "We can see the fragility of the security situation in East Asia because of North Korea," adding North Korea's return to six-party talks was "an absolute necessity".
Abe flies to South Korea on Monday for talks with President Roh Moo-hyun that are expected to focus on North Korea.
"DEEP REMORSE":
At a meeting with Wen, both sides expressed hope of overcoming animosity linked to Koizumi's regular war shrine visits, which angered China and hampered progress on territorial, trade and energy disputes.
China and Japan also agreed to elevate relations to a strategic level and speed up talks on disputed energy resources in the East China Sea, their joint statement said.
Abe said he wished to "build a relationship of trust with Chinese leaders".
"Sixty years of Japan's post-war history is built on our deep remorse for our country inflicting grave damage and suffering and left scars on the people of Asia," Abe told reporters. "I feel certain that my visit to China this time will lead Sino-Japanese ties to a higher level," he said.
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