Foreign Minister Yohei Kono (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan meet at a Bangkok hotel on Saturday. -- Kyodo Photo

BANGKOK (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Yohei Kono will visit China in late August to help pave the way for Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's planned visit to Japan in the fall, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said Saturday.

Kono and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan agreed during a Saturday breakfast meeting in Bangkok that Kono will make the visit Aug. 28-31 and use the opportunity to also discuss issues of bilateral and regional concern, the official said.

During the 100-minute meeting, Kono also urged China to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear arms at an early date, the official said.