Japan will provide China between $2.5 million and $3 million in fresh financial assistance to help preserve important cultural assets along the ancient Silk Road, government sources said Thursday.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi is expected to convey the cultural cooperation plan when he meets with Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, during his first official visit to Beijing early next month, the sources said.
When Jiang visited Tokyo last November, he and Obuchi agreed the two countries should step up cooperation in preserving cultural assets on the historic trading route, describing the objects as "common assets of mankind." Jiang was the first Chinese head of state to officially visit Japan in the history of Sino-Japanese relations.