Japan Post plans to open liaison offices in Beijing and Shanghai in the fall, officials said Friday.

The opening of Japan Post's first overseas outlets is in keeping with its strategy of promoting overseas services, the officials said.

The public postal service corporation will step up its preparatory work if it wins approval from Chinese authorities during negotiations in March, they said.

In an effort to turn its money-losing mail service around, Japan Post plans to bolster its overseas operations this year.

The main battleground for the new strategy is Asia, especially China, Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta has said.

Japan Post plans to station three officials at each of the new offices to carry out negotiations with Chinese authorities in order to promote mail delivery between the two countries.

Japan Post was created last April as a state corporation, taking over the governmental Postal Services Agency's mail delivery, postal savings and "kampo" life insurance services.

The government plans to privatize the entity in 2007.

In the international mail delivery market, it lags way behind such major players as Deutsche Post of Germany and U.S. carrier Federal Express.