China says summit with Japan, South Korea to focus on cooperation, not North Korea

FILE PHOTO - China's Premier Li Keqiang speaks with Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade head Yohei Kono (not pictured), at the Great Hall of People, in Beijing, China April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Parker Song/Pool

BEIJING (Reuters) - No areas will be off limits in talks next week when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits Japan, but North Korea is not going to be a focus, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday.

China and Japan, Asia's two largest economies, have been trying to reset ties after years of increasingly bitter disputes over a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea and the legacy of Japan's invasion of China before and during World War Two.