Visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has welcomed Japan's plan to provide $1.5 billion in emergency assistance to refugees in the Middle East and Africa, but declined to comment on whether Japan should do more to accept refugees from those areas.

"This kind of support is really important. We all know that the very cause of the problem must be solved," he told a small group of reporters from Japanese media outlets in Tokyo on Sunday.

Valls also stressed the importance of supporting such countries as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, which are absorbing massive numbers of refugees from Syria, and of providing support to the U.N. World Food Programme.

At last week's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan will provide $810 million in emergency assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons from Syria and Iraq this year. He also pledged to provide $750 million for stabilization efforts in the Middle East and Africa.

He said such support is vital because it is impossible for the European Union to take in all of the refugees, whose numbers are expected to swell to between 4 million and 5 million.

"I am not in a position to say whether Japan should accept more refugees. But I also understand that Japan is geographically far away from the epicenter of the problem," Valls said.

Of the record 5,000 people who applied to Japan for asylum last year, only 11 were accepted, according to the Justice Ministry.

The French prime minister also said that when he met with Abe on Saturday in Kyoto, he made a positive remark about Japan's relationship with China.

"What I think the most important remark during our conversation was that Prime Minister Abe said he highly values bilateral dialogues with China. It is going to be very positive politically, diplomatically and economically for the world and for this region to promote dialogue and pursue a healthy relationship with China," Valls said.

Abe also added that Japan wants to accept many more tourists from China in the future, according to Valls.

He was on a three-day visit to Japan set to end Monday night. He was scheduled to hold an official meeting Monday evening with Abe in Tokyo for further discussions.