Fukuda to start 4-day trip to China from Dec. 27

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will visit China for four days from Dec. 27, government sources said Monday. Fukuda will meet with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other top officials in Beijing and also visit other cities. Fukuda's visit will be the first by a Japanese prime minister since Shinzo Abe in October 2006. Fukuda and Hu have not met before. Fukuda aims to foster friendship between the two countries and to ensure mutual visits by their leaders happen regularly, the sources said.