Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has assured Japan that it remains a candidate for a contract to build a high-speed railway between Shanghai and Beijing and promised to reschedule a canceled visit by Transport Minister Hajime Morita.
"I've instructed the (Chinese) Ministry of Railways to reset the visit," a Japanese official quoted Zhu as saying in a Wednesday meeting with visiting Foreign Minister Yohei Kono.
Zhu also told Kono he was "embarrassed" over the strain in bilateral ties caused by recent Chinese research and naval operations near Japan, stressing China has "no intentions or hostility," the official told reporters.
Kono conveyed the importance Japan attaches to Zhu's tour, the official said. Kono was in Beijing for a visit aimed at ironing out differences and paving the way for Zhu's Oct. 12-17 trip to Japan.