Prime Minister Taro Aso will visit China in late October to attend a meeting of Asian and European leaders and plans to meet with Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao during the trip, government sources said Saturday.
Talks are in the final stage to set up the visit, the sources said, following a request by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during a meeting with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations assembly.
The Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, is scheduled for Oct. 24 and 25, and some officials had been concerned Aso might not be able to attend if he were to call a general election, the sources said.