China and Japan agree to cooperate on pollution

Japan and China agreed on Wednesday to step up their cooperation in combating air pollution when their environment ministers held their first talks in three years in the latest sign of thawing relations between Asia's two biggest economies.

Japanese Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki met separately with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts, Chen Jining and Yoon Seong Kyu, in Shanghai a day before their trilateral meeting.

Chen, who was appointed to the ministerial post in late February, said at the outset of the meeting he was "very pleased" to discuss cooperation on environmental protection with Japan.

Mochizuki pointed out to Chen that the two countries had a long history of implementing antipollution measures together and had achieved "good results".

Following the meeting, Mochizuki told reporters, "I said we will offer maximum cooperation to China" in its battle against choking smog in many cities, typified by high levels of pollutant known as PM2.5, or harmful particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns.

Mochizuki quoted Chen as saying that China wanted to "follow the good example of Japan", which faced similar challenges during its years of economic development.