Yasuo Fukuda, ex-Japanese prime minister, meets Xi Jinping as Apec summit nears

Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda met President Xi Jinping yesterday ahead of a high-level regional summit in Beijing where the top leaders of the two nations may hold talks.

Fukuda, in the capital as chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, shook hands with Xi at the outset of their meeting at the Great Hall of the People. Other forum members also took part in the discussions, Kyodo reported.

Fukuda, who has now met the president twice in three months, told Xi that China played a "big role" in the international community through its expanding economy, according to a person at the talks.

Xi told the delegation the nation's development was closely related to that of Asia as a whole, and China would continue its opening-up policy and strengthen rule by law.

It would continue peaceful development and remain friendly with its neighbours, CCTV quoted him as saying.

In July Fukuda conveyed a message to the president that Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should meet on the sidelines of the Apec summit next month in Beijing.