Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on Sunday and urged Beijing to back Japan's efforts to normalize diplomatic ties with North Korea, Japanese officials said.
On the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in Copenhagen, Koizumi briefed Zhu on his Sept. 17 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.
Japanese officials said Zhu hailed the Koizumi-Kim summit as an "important diplomatic move."
Zhu said China will strive to promote dialogue between North Korea and other countries as well as seek a national reconciliation on the peninsula, a Japanese official said.