(CCTV.com)
Updated: 2008-05-08 11:07

Hu Jintao's visit is the first to Japan by a Chinese president in a decade. It comes as the once-chilly Sino-Japanese relationship continues to thaw. CCTV correspondent in Tokyo spoke with a Japanese analyst.

Koji Watanabe is a research fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange and says President Hu Jintao's visit is a sign of warming bilateral ties.

Koji Watanabe said, "I would like to emphasis that this visit is very important."

Following a "freezing period", Sino-Japanese relations started to warm when the leaders of both sides made reciprocal "ice-thawing" visits.

In the past two years, bilateral ties have increasingly show signs of improvement.

Koji Watanabe said, "Improvement, stabilizing Sino-Japanese relations is not only beneficial but also essential to Japan and China."

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

And experts say the Chinese president's landmark visit to Japan will help set the course for the development of Sino-Japanese ties.