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In a bid to address the economic crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has begun a two-day visit to Beijing.
Successive Japanese leaders have considered themselves to have a standing invitation to China.
High on the Prime Minister’s agenda are the faltering economy, North Korea and, if he gets time, some rape of Nanking.
Another key issue is an outbreak of swine flu in China, particularly the virus’s dangerous “sweet and sour” strain.
Mr Aso arrives at a sensitive time for Sino-Japanese relations, the period 1894-2009.
The Prime Minister stoked tensions last week by offering a plant to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, where Japan’s war dead are honoured. The shrub is seen as offensive to China because there are 3.2 million troops hiding behind it, and will it be planted in Manchuria.
