The government might ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Japan in the latter half of 2018 as a state guest, government sources said Saturday.
To lay the groundwork, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to visit China in the first half of next year, the sources said. If Xi visits Japan, he will be the first Chinese president to do so since Hu Jintao in 2008.
Abe last visited China in September 2016.