Ex-president's daughter to visit Japan with letter from Xi

Li Xiaolin, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the youngest daughter of former president Li Xiannian, may visit Japan next week for talks with former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda to help mend ailing ties.

Relations between Japan and China have fallen to their lowest point in years over their longstanding territorial dispute in the East China Sea regarding the Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkakus.

Japan's Kyodo News Agency quoted unnamed sources in China and Japan as saying that Li planned to visit Japan from Sunday to Friday to "participate in cultural events" and would pass a message from President Xi Jinping on bilateral ties to major Japanese political figures.

A person familiar with her planned itinerary said Li would to attend the opening of a Chinese book fair in Tokyo on Tuesday, but Fukuda had not yet confirmed his attendance.

"Anything could happen up to the last minute, given the current condition of the relationship between the two countries," the source said.

Japanese media had earlier reported that Tang Jiaxuan , a former state councillor who heads the China-Japan Friendship Association, was to visit Japan last week to attend a meeting but that trip did not eventuate.