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.