Japan plans to resume aid grants to China later this week, lifting a suspension in force since mid-1995 in protest at Beijing's nuclear tests, a news agency reported yesterday.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was tomorrow expected to approve plans to provide 1.7 billion yen (HK$106.59 million) to China to help purchase medical equipment in Nanjing, said Jiji Press, quoting government officials.
The resumption of aid would be announced ahead of a visit to Beijing by Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda, who would leave Tokyo on Saturday, the officials said.
Mr Ikeda is expected to sign documents covering the aid in Beijing, where he is to meet President Jiang Zemin, Prime Minister Li Peng and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen.
Tokyo has suspended economic aid to Beijing since August 1995.
Japan resumed loans to China late last year by offering to lend 170 billion yen but postponed a decision on resuming aid grants.
Mr Ikeda agreed last month to prepare for resuming aid grants when he met Mr Qian in Singapore.
Foreign Ministry officials refused to confirm the report.
Japan's history of aggression during World War II still plays a major role in young Chinese people's view of their neighbour, according to a China Daily survey published yesterday.
While 95.8 per cent of respondents said friendly Sino-Japanese ties were important to China and Asia, 99.4 per cent said they would remember the history of Japan's 1931-45 invasion of China.