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Chinese PM may visit Japan in Oct

TOKYO: Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji may visit Japan in October, not ahead of the Group of Eight summit in July as Tokyo had hoped, Japanese media reported on Thursday.

Japan, eagerly soliciting other Asian views ahead of the summit on its southern island of Okinawa, had hoped Zhu would visit around the time of the meeting.

But Jiji news agency quoted Chinese ambassador to Japan Chen Jian as saying Zhu is hoping to visit Japan in October.

The ambassador also told senior Liberal Democratic Party member Yoshiro Mori that Zhu's visit should not be linked to the summit, Jiji reported.

Neither the Chinese Embassy nor the Japanese Foreign Ministry could confirm the Jiji report, saying talks on the timing of Zhu's visit were still in progress.

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi had hoped to boost the Okinawa summit's profile by getting China to attend, but Beijing said last month it had no intention of participating.-Reuters