Tokyo, June 01: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday left Japan after meeting Japanese Emperor Akihito at the imperial palace, ending a three-day visit to Tokyo, officials said.
In talks Monday, Wen and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama agreed to set up a hotline following a series of naval incidents, and to resume formal negotiations on jointly exploring offshore gas and oil fields.
Japan and China, the world’s second and third-biggest economies, are rivals for resources and have competing claims to parts of the East China Sea.
The palace meeting was the Japanese emperor’s second with Wen, and his first with a top Chinese official since he met in December with China’s Vice President Xi Jinping — who is tipped to become president by 2013.
Xi’s meeting created a squabble in Tokyo as Japan’s centre-left government broke with protocol to allow him to meet Akihito in a hastily arranged audience.
Wen was heading to Mongolia and visits Myanmar later this week.
—Agencies