Beijing -- President Roh Moo-hyun of the Republic of Korea (ROK) will pay a working visit to China on October 13 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced Wednesday.

South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun (L) and his wife Kwon Yang-sook wave the national flag at a ceremony, marking the end of World War Two and Japanese rule 61 years ago, in Seoul August 15, 2006. [Reuters]

This is the second time for Roh to visit China since he took office in 2003. Roh paid a state visit to China for the first time in July, 2003, during which China and the ROK agreed to build an all-round cooperative partnership.

China and ROK have maintained smooth cooperation in politics, economy, trade, culture, education, science and technology, environment protection and the military fields. They have had good coordination in international and regional issues, observers said.

The smooth cooperation between China and the ROK has made important contributions to regional peace and development, Chinese President Hu Jintao said upon his state visit to the ROK in November 2005, when the ROK recognized China's market economy status.

China is the biggest trading partner of ROK and the No. 1 destination of investment made by ROK's entrepreneurs. The ROK is the fourth largest trading partner and third largest import source of China. Trade volume between China and the ROK exceeded US$100 billion in 2005.

The two countries set the goal of increasing bilateral trade volume to US$200 billion by 2012.

Statistics show that there are over 420 flights flying between China and the ROK every week. The ROK has become the biggest tourism source nation for China in 2005, and the bilateral tourism cooperation has huge potential, according to China's National Tourism Administration.

Moreover, the two countries closely cooperate in the process of resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, making joint contribution to realizing denuclearization of the peninsula.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said over phone talks with Roh last July that China highly values relations with the ROK and will work with the ROK to boost the development of China-ROK comprehensive cooperative partnership.

Abe To Visit China

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also announced Wednesday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to China from October 8 to 9.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) is escorted by guards as he arrives at the Upper House plenary session at the parliament in Tokyo October 4, 2006. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to China from October 8 to 9. [Reuters]

"China and Japan reached a consensus on overcoming the political obstacle to the bilateral relationship and promoting the sound development of bilateral friendly and cooperative relationship," Liu said.

"Accordingly, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to China from October 8 to 9," the spokesman said.

The Sino-Japanese relations have been soured by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead, including 14 class-A war criminals in WWII, are honored.

The leaders of the two countries halted exchange of visits since Koizumi paid a homage to the war shrine in 2001.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said last March in a meeting with the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations that the difficult situation in China-Japan relationship was not caused by the Chinese side or the Japanese people.

The sticking point is that the major obstacle in China-Japan relationship was Japanese leader's insistence on visiting the shrine, Hu said.

China always values its relationship with Japan, considering it one of the important bilateral relations in the world, he said. The Chinese side has made unswerving efforts to improve China-Japan relations.

The president said the China's stance on its relationship with Japan is "clear", "consistent" and "unswerving."

China will, as it always does, handle China-Japan relationship from a strategic and long-term point of view and is committed to China-Japan peaceful coexistence, long-term friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development, he said.

The Chinese side will abide by the principles set in the three Sino-Japanese political documents, continue to "take history as a mirror and look into the future," and properly settle the problems between the two sides through equal consultations, and maintain China-Japan friendship, said Hu.