Japan and China talk up cooperation, sidestep tensions

By Yoko Kubota

BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso held out agreements on fighting the financial crisis, global warming and swine flu as evidence of deepening ties with sometime rival China on Thursday, sidestepping tensions over the past.

At the end of his two-day visit to Beijing, Aso told reporters he and China's leaders also agreed on seeking an early restart of six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, which has raised regional tensions. [ID:nSEO194433]

But Chinese President Hu Jintao did not appear to offer Aso much hope of an early end to North Korean threats.

"The six-party talks are facing a difficult phase," Hu told Aso, a Japanese official told reporters after the meeting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Those on-off talks bring together North and South Korea, host China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

There were no big surprises in China and Japan's broad agreements to cooperate in lifting domestic consumption and resisting trade protectionism, to help China absorb greenhouse gas-reducing energy technology and to foster youth exchanges.

"I think the biggest fruit was that we were able to clearly show our will to work together hand in hand to recover the economy and overcome the financial crisis," Aso told a news conference of his meetings with Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao.

The two sides also did little to resolve long-standing disputes over natural gas beds under the East China Sea.