Japan hopes Chinese leader Xi's planned visit will be meaningful

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, December 23, 2019. Noel Celis/Pool via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan hopes a planned visit this spring by Chinese President Xi Jinping will prove to be meaningful, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, on Friday.

When the two leaders met last June on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Osaka, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe invited Xi to visit Japan at the "time of the cherry blossoms" this spring, which is typically from late March to early April.