Top officials from the Defense Agency and China's People's Liberation Army agreed Thursday that the two countries will start their first-ever mutual visits by naval vessels next year, agency officials said.

The idea of such an exchange was adopted last month when Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji met with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in Tokyo as part of bilateral security exchanges.

In his talks with Ken Sato, administrative vice defense minister, Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the General Staff of China's People's Liberation Army, suggested that Chinese vessels first visit Japan next year and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships visit China the following year, according to Defense Agency counselor Yoshiki Mine.

Sato agreed to the proposal but details of the exchanges will need further coordination, Mine said.

Before meeting with Sato, Xiong met with agency chief Kazuo Torashima and agreed that the two countries should begin the naval exchanges as soon as possible in a way that is supported by the people of both countries, the official said.

Torashima also accepted an invitation from Xiong to visit China next year.

Treading more delicate territory, Sato alluded to Chinese naval research activities in waters near Japan, which were frequently observed earlier this year and angered conservative Japanese lawmakers.

"We hope that what may damage the friendship between Japan and China will not be repeated," Sato told Xiong.

Xiong said China believes it has engaged in no activities that could damage bilateral ties, adding that the matter has already been discussed and resolved by the two governments, according to the agency official.

Tokyo and Beijing have agreed to introduce a mechanism to mutually report maritime activities within each other's economic waters.

Exercises launched

Japan and the United States launched large-scale military maneuvers Thursday in and around Japan for a 17-day exercise, which the Defense Agency said is designed to test the readiness of the two allies for emergencies in areas surrounding Japan.

The exercise involves 21,000 service members from the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military stationed in Japan, the Defense Agency said.

About 20 warships and some 310 military aircraft will be used in the drills, staged for the first time under new legislation Japan enacted last summer on military cooperation between the two countries.

In announcing the joint drills, the Defense Agency said the exercise is being held "without any specific country or region, such as the Korean Peninsula, in mind."

The agency said the drills will focus on the joint combat capability of the two forces in the event of an attack on Japan and on search-and-rescue operations at sea. It will also involve the simulated rescue of Japanese trapped overseas.

sk The two forces plan to hold joint search-and-rescue maneuvers in the Sea of Japan off Kyushu and in the Pacific off Shikoku in a simulated rescue of U.S. warplane crew members.

U.S. and Japanese military plan to use the U.S. Marine base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to simulate "a foreign airport caught in a military conflict" and to airlift stranded Japanese to safety.

The Defense Agency and the U.S. military plans to use SDF and U.S. military personnel to pose as stranded Japanese and Americans and airlift them from Iwakuni to the Air Self-Defense Force base at Tsuiki, Fukuoka Prefecture.

A similar rescue operation by naval ships is also planned at Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture.

In Tokyo, SDF personnel will be mobilized, for the first time ever, to simulate the rescue of U.S. service members from Yokota Air Base on the premise that the facility has been the target of a bomb attack.